Murdering Oscar (and Other Love Songs)
Patterson Hood
Score:74
Reviewer: Ed Butler
Label: Ruth St (USA), ATO (UK)
Reviewed: Jul 6th '09, Released:2009
Patterson Hood’s pedigree is sufficient in and of itself to encourage the unwary to dip their proverbial toes. Drive-by Truckers’ back catalogue has now established them as the pre-eminent purveyors of deep-fried southern rock, with Hood and songwriting cohorts Mike Cooley and Shonna Tucker gently and convincingly leaping between stomping rockers and graceful, lyrical ballads.
While Murdering Oscar is Hood’s second solo recording (after 2004’s Killers and Stars), it has been the result of a prolonged gestation. Writing started on some tracks in the early nineties, including ‘Heavy and Hanging’, Hood’s heaving, woozy tribute to Kurt Cobain. But despite this, the album feels startlingly contemporary, particularly considering the retrograde nature of DBT’s influences.
The self-titled opener and its successor ‘Pollyanna’ reveal Hood’s greatest talent: he can write a tune that rests irresistibly with his overarching Lynyrd Skynyrd aesthetic. Here, his arrangements are appropriately loose and spacious, in stark contrast to DBTs drum-tight rhythms, giving his whiskey-soaked vocals the room to flesh out his more personalised, introspective solo material. Gone are many of the metaphors and tales from earlier team efforts.
Much like its predecessor, Murdering Oscar spent a long time on the shelf before its release. Recorded in 2005, its release would have pre-empted the sound of 2008’s terrific Brighter than Creation’s Dark. Viewed through such revisionist glasses, there is a great deal to like. Ignoring the album’s history, however, lends an ever more rewarding experience. It stands as an admirable accompanying piece to Brighter… and some of the album’s better numbers, including the haunting ‘Walking Around Sense’, would rank as his or his band’s best.
