Union

Artists stay true to themselves and Son Volt’s LP “Union” marks a continuation of their eloquent insights into the workings of the Americana mind during the USAs downfall at the hands of billionaires and their Republican enablers. Sure, the LP longs for sociopolitical union, but the artists in this collection of songs suggest this isn’t likely. It reveals instead the financial greed and racism that has been embraced by those intent to remain in power. Those who feel alienated by this in-your-face LP cannot wait for low-wage workers to return to dangerous jobs—even their own dangerous, low-paying jobs—during a horrific pandemic while desperately clinging to the lies and promises of a foolish despot. Woody Guthrie’s raised middle finger lives!

Found Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt in college. Love all the albums...until now. This is garbage.

To me Son Volt is instantly recognizable. I heard one today on a Sirius station and immediately checked out the 2019 album. I was really looking forward to hearing it, and typically buy the whole album, which I stlll do for my favorite artists. I have to agree with many of the reveiwers that many of the songs were slow and too one-dimensional, so I didn't want them in my library. However I still downloaded 4 songs, including While Rome Burns, The Reason, Slow Burn, and the Devil May Care, which I gave more looks given the other review and was so glad I did.

We're so, so far short of the Trace / Straightaways / Wide Swing Tremolo years when I could count on any 10+ song release offering plenty of things to like. I believe in maturation of sound and artists who grow their own way, but there is so little to like from recent releases. It's akin to that sitcom that kills it the first 2-3 seasons, only to fade when the core characters and stories get stretched into places they can't go. I just hope SV is like Weeds, and they get back to what made them so great during those first three releases.

A once in a generation songwriter. He just needs a nudge..something.. to make him realize his full potential. His vocal timbre is unmistakable: Jay Farrar’s voice is as unique as John Lee Hooker’s. His only sin is he has been on repeat for a while now. Son Volt suffers from being unremarkable. Not a bad album, just not anything new.

Jay Farrar has always followed his own path. If he hadn't there wouldn't be a Son Volt or the more popular Wilco. So if his politics upset you, Wilco is out there. Farrar's voice has a special quality that makes the tension in my shoulders kind of melt away. Put it on, put it on shuffle with the other Son Volt and it fits. Lyrics, smiriks. His voice is an instrument sliding into notes like a trombone slurs. You get it or you don't.

Jay Farrar has always had a fascination with Woody Guthrie and being that Jay, like Woody, is considered by many to also be an American treasure, Woody's daughter has previously reached out to Jay to put some of Woody's unrecorded words to music. For this album, Jay traveled to Tulsa and set up shop in the Woody Guthrie Museum (after hours) to record some of the songs for Union, somewhat of a protest album in the vein of Guthrie. (Some songs were also recorded at the Mother Jones Museum in Illinois.) As Jay, puts it, he is just writing songs mirroring current headlines in the news. At the same time, there are other non-political songs on here. "I kind of burned out about midway through the recording and I decided that some of the songs needed to embody a more regular rock ethos and be non-topical" Farrar says to Billboard Magazine. "With "Devil May Care," he explains, "I was thinking about bands like the Replacements, who would fall off the stage in the first chords of their songs, the Stones, the Who." Possible the best song on the album "The Reason" is a message from Farrar to his children who are on their way to college and into the world. Jay wrote it as a result of “seeing them go into adulthood and just thinking about the trials they will face, and hoping they don’t fall and press onward,” Farrar says to Paste Magazine. All in all a great album which will only be reinforced with time.

...this is a very good Wallflowers album. I was expecting Son Volt, though.

One never knows where an Artist will go next; I like where Son Volt went with this album and every song contained here in.

It's hard to believe so many people in the United States have blinders on; it's a relief that artists like Jay Farrar are willing to tell the truth even to those who would prefer to listen to lies.