Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 07/12/2005
It's been 19 years since
the Knitters -- a
country-tinged offshoot of
X with guitarist
Dave Alvin and bassist
Johnny Ray Bartel in tow -- released
Poor Little Critter on the Road. In the meantime,
alternative country -- an unfamiliar phrase in 1986 -- has become a recognized genre. The title of the new album,
The Modern Sounds of the Knitters, is something of a joke then: first, because there's nothing modern about
the Knitters; and second, because
alternative country is now a modern sound. The new album lacks the surprise of the first, the sheer oddity of a
rock band making a
country album. Most listeners, then, are going to listen to
The Modern Sounds of the Knitters in the context of
Wilco or
Lucinda Williams or dozens of other performers covered in
No Depression. In that context, two things stand out about
the Knitters. First, the band has two solid lead singers,
John Doe and
Exene, whose voices work great together, and secondly, the guitar work by
Alvin is always bright and rocking (even though the album is
country-tinged). Still, it would be a shame if
The Modern Sounds of the Knitters was just filed under
country,
alternative or otherwise. The band is simply too hip, and its
country-
rockabilly-
folk sound -- modern or otherwise -- is too fresh to be lumped in with yet another
No Depression band on the make. Authenticity is a beautiful thing, but unless a group can bring something new to old songs -- as
the Knitters do to
"Long Chain On" or
"Give Me Flowers While I'm Living" -- then why bother? Of course, listening to
Doe and
Exene's voices intertwine will have listeners breaking out their old
X albums. Certain slower songs, like
"Little Margaret," are a bit milquetoast, but
the Knitters more than make up for it by closing with a killer version of
"Born to Be Wild." Perhaps it just takes a group of players less encased in the modern sounds of
alternative country to make a lively, buoyant album like
The Modern Sounds of the Knitters.
~Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Music Guide
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