Rocky Votolato - The Brag & Cuss

by Steven Fanning

Sleepy folky country Americana, not very Rocky at all

"There’s a maudlin quality to the lyrics and the music that isn’t easy to listen to without beginning to feel a bit glum yourself."

Rocky Votolato’s fifth album opens with ‘Lily White’, a track which sees him unleashing a few influences to combine into his own take on things. This is essentially folky Americana, tinged with country banjos, violins, slide guitar and accordion and the odd distorted guitar to give it some oomph. The first really notable thing about ‘Lily White’ is Rocky’s voice, which drifts between the throaty vocals of Mark ‘E’ Everett of Eels acclaim and the oft cited Elliott Smith, whose influence in life and death has been so across the board it’s amazing he never really hit the dizzy heights.

‘The Brag And The Cuss’ has an overall feel to it that life ain’t really that great, with mention given to “Every broken bone and every blue black eye” and Rocky confessing he would “hate to see you go” on ‘Before You Were Born’, this isn’t an album to put on to perk you up if you’re feeling a bit down in the dumps.

There’s a maudlin quality to the lyrics and the music that isn’t easy to listen to without beginning to feel a bit glum yourself, so if a dose of American miserablism is what you’re after, listen no further than to Rocky Votolato. Perhaps that's why it sounds so alien on British ears, with references throughout to "Kentucky" and "Reno" and depcitions of American country life that is of no consequence other than to those who experience this, it doesn't travel well over here.

Overall, the album is well made, nicely produced and perfectly performed, but for those without a real interest in country or Americana it’s not really likely to appeal. There isn’t really a great deal to criticise, but neither is there a great deal to heap praise upon either. It's an album that certianly has a place in American society, but will struggle to settle in over here.

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