Spreading awareness about peak oil in unique ways…
[Video][Website]
[6.86]
Anthony Easton: One of the aspects of Western Canada’s libertarian tendency is fear — but not the fear of the other that pundits claim. I think it is a fear of absence; they know that the oil will run out and they know that they cannot quite make it work now, and when the oil runs out, it won’t work at all. Growing up out there I remember seeing bumper stickers that said, Please Lord, Give Us Another Oil Boom, We Promise not to Piss It Away this Time; and it’s come–and they are pissing it away again, human beings are terrible at long term planning. So, all of this is context—and like Kristofferson in the 80s, Lund has stumbled on his role as Country Music Cassandra. He has a moral authority, and a refusal of the usual discourses (listening to his “Student Visas,” with its excoriating fury at American imperial adventures is as left as this is libertarian, for example), and a story telling habit that does not rest on cheap aphorism. I may be overrating this because of personal history, but the track chugs along, and the chorus is one that you yell after four or five ryes at the end of a concert–and that sing along tendency, mean that there is a kind of Trojan Horse–but the horse is fully transparent; one of those flaming ones that comes when the apocalypse comes.
[10]
Jonathan Bogart: Vaguely biblical environmentalism with a grimy guitar boogie behind it is about as “tasteful country for liberals” as it gets; that doesn’t mean that those liberals are wrong.
[7]
Patrick St. Michel: Looks like someone watched a documentary on peak oil and got really paranoid about the future of our society. Corb Lund at least has the courtesy to set his back-to-nature plans against catchy, albeit repetitive, country music.
[5]
Alfred Soto: Not much beyond the refracted Bo Diddley-isms of the beat and protestations of doom that are closer to portents.
[5]
Brad Shoup: There’s an academic undertone to this one, borne out by the bass morphing into a soul-jazz butterfly and the frequent use of the term “social fabric,” tossed out with more irony than sarcasm. But it’s got a riff that actually creaks in spots and a groove that’s gathering no moss.
[6]
Ramzi Awn: A downbeat country rocker built for the intro credits to a “90210” ski trip episode, “Gettin’ Down on the Mountain” delivers strong vocals, campfire warmth and a little grit. It’s simple, but there’s nothing wrong with that. A trip to the store for some whiskey might be in order.
[7]
Edward Okulicz: Shit’s going down, Lund knows but there’s not a thing he or anyone else can do but chuck out one-liners both clever and goofy, and make us have an enthusiastic but nonetheless terrified hoedown atop the mountain while it does go down. Tough trick to pull off, but this boogies enough, Lund is straight enough to convince, and the song’s plenty chewy.
[8]