David Nance & Mowed Sound

Album review

First things first: "It sure as shit isn't a country record," singer-songwriter David Nance says of his ninth original album (not counting his full-length covers of classics like Goat's Head Soup and Beatles for Sale), this time with a lineup going by Mowed Sound. "Most of these songs were written as country songs and then were perverted into different forms." Feel-good standout "Mock the Hours" taps into country the way The Band and the Allman Brothers did, blending it with a plethora of other elements including blues and rock (including an obvious hat tip to the Rolling Stones). It may not have the mule-kick of Nance's Negative Boogie from 2017, but it jangles and shines in a brighter way, replete with rollicking keys and super-smooth bass.

There's a deep vein of West Coast blues rock here, too—Canned Heat, in particular, seems to inform the bass-stomp boogie of "Tergiversation" and the outlaw country-blues strut of "Credit Line." Hushed ballad "Tumbleweed" takes its time and goes a different direction, its laidback melody drifting to follow free-floating flute from Skye Junginger—one of several special guests from Nance's Omaha, Nebraska, scene.  Fellow Omahan Pearl LoveJoy Boyd joins Nance for the duet, suggesting Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood on Ambien. Propelled by tooting organ, "Side Eyed Sam" does a fine jam-band chug and shuffle, while "Cut It Off" follows that path with a blues-rock groove. "Cure Vs. Disease" is a psych-out take on Delta blues, and the lovely ballad "In Orlando" channels outlaw songwriters like David Allan Coe. "No Taste Tart Enough" digs on swampy guitar, and "Molly's Loop" offers an experimental interlude. It may be released in February, but David Nance & Mowed Sound will have you anticipating lazy summer Sundays. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz