Review Summary: I know you have a copy of the "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack somewhere in your house.
The Old Crow Medicine show is something of an anomaly in today's music scene. They play what I would call an "old timey" mix of American roots music. They seem to trade their instruments around on whims, but you can expect to hear banjo, slide guitar and double bass accompanied by a charismatic vocal drawl and harmonica. With human natures bizarre obsession with nostalgia many bands try to take their sound back to the basics with varying levels of success, Thrice immediately comes to mind, but where other bands seem uncomfortable in their illfitting clothes the OMCS wears its bluegrass colors like a second skin. Being able to take antiquated styles and infuse them with a intensely personal and modern flavour is the OCMS's great strength that on Big Iron World they were beginning to perfect. Let's take a look at the album.
Even though I personally feel that authenticity is an overrated quality I am still impressed by just how authentic the OCMS's sound is. The vocalists all have undeniable charisma and the sporadic audio hiccups such as the creaking of wooden instruments, the singer audibly turning away from the mic or the subtle changes in tempo succeed only in drawing the listener further into the music. There aren't as many bands that can pull off the "guys jamming in a room" sound as there used to be back when that way the only way to record but the OCMS have the talent to pull it off. Although they are not mechanically flawless musicians, the band's members play their instruments impressively and the frontman (or the closest thing the OCMS has to one) Ketch Secor's fluid harmonica and fiddle playing is a particular standout.
Although the OCMS's true to form Bluegrass sound is an undeniable charm, it's not what makes the music so listenable; there are many bands packed with talented musicians that exist mostly to venerate well loved classics or even to preserve outdated culture. The problem with such bands is that they rarely have a truly individual voice. Often their messages are irrelevant to most listeners and thus fail to generate any emotional response. The OCMS however are part of a miniscule minority that avoids any and all of these pitfalls with a consistently solid mesh of original and traditional tunes. The original compositions feature earnest lyrics and messages that blend seamlessly with the borrowed tunes. Take for example this stanza from "Don't Ride That Horse", one of Secor's works: "His blood pressure's droppin' down/ We ditched the pot and we marked the ground/ Ante up and watch him ride/ Check that dude, he almost died." The uncomfortably honest words and vocal delivery are a big part of what makes the OCMS's old time music feel relatable instead of contrived and continue consistently over the whole record.
Big Iron World is really an exceptional album from an exceptional band. It is so rare to find artists, or even people for that mater, that can celebrate the past without getting lost in it, but the OCMS exist effortlessly in a happy medium. The emotionally heavy quality, particularly evident on standout tracks "My Good Gal", "Don't Ride That Horse" and even "Bobcat Tracks", makes the whole record feel very relevant and artistically real. There are some tracks that don't have the same magic to them, but the album is consistently strong and the songwriting more than makes up for the lack of variation in style. Overall I heartily recommend this album and band to anyone who has an interest in country or blues and since I'm writing this review for human beings and thus people who probably enjoyed "Oh Brother Where Art Thou", my guess is that you will like this record.
