Everyone has heard a fellow music snob utter the classic line of, “Well, I like every genre of music, except for country.” First of all, this probably is not true because no one has a broad enough musical taste to enjoy both Yanni and Pantera. If you do, however, congratulations.
Second of all, what’s so bad about country anyway? Isn’t country just rock with mopey lyrics? So why does everyone have such a beef? Thankfully, artist Jason Molina and his band Magnolia Electric Co. have tried to bridge the gap between these genres for those that are “a little bit country” and those that are, “a little bit rock and roll.” Magnolia Electric Co.’s newest album isn’t perfect to say the least, but it lands somewhere in the gray area between rock and country, thus fusing together the two rival sibling genres.
The album’s title seems to conjure interesting musings regarding the future of music in its rhetorical question, What Comes After The Blues? While none of the lyrics seem to answer the question in a straightforward manner, the album itself could serve as an answer by not landing definitively in a genre.
Some songs are twangy and bluesy enough to be on heavy rotation on CMT, while others have an undeniable rock motif. Molina is suggesting that after the blues comes a more homogenized sound. Not homogenized as in sounds like everything else, but more of a union between genres, taking inspiration from a wider range of music. Or maybe he is just one of those guys that like rock and country. Who’s to say other than Molina?
The album is rather short, only running 36 minutes in length, but seems perfect for sitting on the porch in summer at sunset while sipping a Corona and watching the sun slowly dip behind the horizon. The first song, “The Dark Don’t Hide It,” is definitely the most rock oriented, with a strong guitar riff and hummable melody. Molina’s voice slides in perfectly with his bluesy style of rock.
However, where Molina succeeds, his co-singer Jennie Benford fails. Benford’s voice is too whiny in most songs; it doesn’t seem to have the heart and soul that comprises Molina’s vocals. The songs that she sings by her lonesome grow tedious and her harmonizing in the background of Molina’s songs is outright annoying. But, she also plays acoustic guitar, so she should not be cast out of the band like the foul-voiced pariah that she is. Rather, she should stick to the instrumentals and leave the vocals to Molina.
For the most part though, you can really hear how well Magnolia Electric Co. meshes. Simply enough, they sound good together, like a well-polished band should. Each instrument does its intended job, never overshadowing another. It’s almost as if Magnolia Electric Co. isn’t at all about Molina, but more band-oriented with a good team mentality.
That is not to say that this album is a masterpiece and will be Magnolia Electric Co.’s best work, for there is still a lot of room to grow. In future albums, hopefully Magnolia Electric Co. will drop some more of their slow ballad in favor of more upbeat tunes. Who wants to hear a sad cowboy song anyway?
Whatever the case, Magnolia Electric Co. is a band that deserves a listening. For some, they might be too country, for others a bit too rock. For that small niche of people stuck in the middle it could prove just right, almost as if Magnolia Electric Co. is the Goldie Locks of modern music.
Luckily for Magnolia Electric Co. fans, the band will be playing in Milwaukee on May 14 at the Cactus Club. This will be their last American stop before crossing the pond for European shows.
Grade: B
