This is a landmark recording from the most talented new band to come out of America in the last five years. Whether by accident or calculated design, The Old Scratch Revival Singers have created a document that will inspire others to pick up instruments and start a band. Musicians already on a creative path will slap themselves on the forehead at how high the bar of purity has now been raised.
This band has paid attention to all the details. From XOXO Records, it comes in a well designed gate folded, soft pack case. The cover is adorned with a stylized, folk art wood cut image (a la Edward Gorey) of a horse drawn hearse driving away from an eerie looking house. Inside, we find silhouettes of each member of the septet and a bannered statement draping an angel-muse declaring:
"BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD TIDINGS - THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL"
The last time a band attempted to apply gospel to me that actually stuck was the Stranglers in 1981 with " Gospel According to Meninblack". That recording has been one of my top faves for over 24 years and counting. I expect no less of the gospel found on "Oh, Didn't He Ramble".
TOSRS have reoccurring themes of ghosts, haunting, devils, judgment, god and other such dark imagery. They weave these impressions in and out of the stories in a gentle, soothing way of a master storyteller. Rather than write several paragraphs on the individual musical talents of each member, all you need to know is they could teach Nashville session players a few tricks about getting it right. Between them they play 14 instruments creating a well thought out choice of sounds from the commanding to butterfly fragile.
"Going Home", a dark, sparse, New Orleans dirge-tempo funeral interlude opens it all and then drifts into "Sing my Funeral Song" This up-tempo number has an amusing conversational lyric in which St. Peter, in a bartender's rough delivery, gives his ok for our recently deceased protagonist to enter heaven.
The third track "Blackberry Brandy" is a swinging ode to a favored potable. Delivered with late night kitchen party vocals, this track shows yet another diverse avenue to the band.
Out of the piano teasing of 'Rosa's Theme" emerges the beautifully tortured "Mother of Larabee" which rises as the perfectly distilled central theme of this project. It's a stunning, off kilter waltz of the insane featuring a haunted house in which " a devil's choir sings in its walls". This is the kind of creepy, chill filled song Alice Cooper wishes he could still write. The split male female vocals verse trade offs show an emerging powerhouse of a singer in Rebecca Strauss. Her approach makes me think of a young Linda Thompson.
"Rosa Kidney" is more of a talisman against night fears than a song. A nursery rhyme that builds and builds from bleached bones slowly layered with the spirit voices singing along with the main character's chant until it becomes a madhouse chorus. It's too bad Tim Burton has already completed "The Corpse Bride". This song should have been on the soundtrack.
The remaining tracks on the record reflect varied degrees of redemption found. All are stellar tracks with "Changed Man" as the stand out. They end it with the beautiful, straight up gospel piece " Holy Trinity" that might very well been covered by Johnny Cash had he discovered it before his demise.
I say to all of you – Buy this record and spread the gospel of The Old Scratch Revival Singers. Let the seeds of this haunted group of black angels take hold of this strange earth one unsuspecting soul at a time. This is a new religion.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
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