Review Summary: An overlooked near-classic which brilliantly encapsulates the alt-country genre
So-called “alt-country” was an emerging and flourishing genre in the 1990s. While a harder-rocking and more lyrical style had long been present on the fringes of the country music scene, this decade saw the true arrival of a new style, albeit largely within the musical underground. While Ryan Adams and Wilco ultimately became wildly recognized within the broader indie community, for the most part 90s alt-country’s biggest bands, such as Whiskeytown, The Jayhawks, and Son Volt achieved a modest level of fame, but nothing more. Inevitably, though, there were some bands which flew even further under the radar, but deserved much greater attention. And perhaps there is no better example of this within the scene than Blue Mountain.
Hailing from Mississippi, Blue Mountain has always primarily been the work of a husband and wife duo. Both are talented musicians, and the pair has released a string of albums beginning in the 1990s and into the first years of the 21st century. Of these, the band’s second LP Dog Days is one of the most popular and acclaimed.
Dog Days truly stands as one of the crown jewels of the alt-country movement, despite the surprising lack of attention given to the band more generally. The album flits between the various musical strands which are grouped under the banner of alt-country, and does so in a way which produces a cohesive and generally excellent listen. From riff-heavy roots rock owing serious debts to the Rolling Stones and Lynyrd Skynyrd, to straight-up country rock, to tinges of country, folk, and blues, Dog Days is a veritable amalgam of American roots music, all put together in an immensely satisfying manner.
The true heart of every great album, though, is the quality of the songs. And Blue Mountain absolutely does not disappoint on this front. Truly a monster of an album, Dog Days is loaded full of tracks which certainly rank as contenders for a list of the finest alt-country songs of all time. The potent mix of pure rock, nostalgia, and irresistible melodies is near-perfect. “Blue Canoe” is a remarkably catchy tune, probably one of the greatest feel-good songs ever composed. Acoustic “Wink” is equal parts gorgeous and depressing, always a winning combination. “Soul Sister” takes nearly every cliché of the band’s musical form and destroys nearly every comparable track ever written. Perhaps the album’s hardest rocking track, “A Band Called Bud”, is an absolute romp, and one that grows better with each and every listen. And the late-album masterpiece “Let’s Go Running” is utterly transcendent. There are a few tracks which don’t quite live up to that high standard, such as the heavy “Slow Suicide” and grooving “Hippy Hotel”, but these are few and far between, and nothing ranks as anything less than solid.
Blue Mountain’s musical formula is simply top-notch here. The band adeptly pulls off both gritty rock and acoustic somberness, and everything in between, with ease. Lead singer, and superb alt-country guitarist, Cary Hudson, plays a prominent role in the proceedings. His rustic-sounding vocals add a great deal of soul and profound emotion to the already well-written songs. While the backwoods vibe frequently given off by Hudson’s singing might alienate some fans of more sophisticated alt-country, it is easy to argue that his voice fits the music perfectly.
All in all, this album is an excellent collection of songs encompassing southern rock, blues, country, and folk, and can be interpreted as a modern take on the rich musical heritage of the American south. Beyond that, Dog Days is simply an exceptional and relaxing musical experience. For all the sadness and melancholy some of the songs here delve into, when Hudson sings “the wind on the lake, the stars in the sky, what else do you need to make you feel high” on the stunningly-brilliant “Blue Canoe”, it’s hard not to feel the band has revealed an essential truth. Dog Days is a vastly-underappreciated masterpiece which should be heard by anyone with an interest in alt-country or American roots music in general, and for outdoors listening in pleasant weather, there might be no better album ever made.
