The Electric Pinecones
Southern Culture on the Skids
Kudzu Records. 2016
Southern Culture on the Skids, house band for the perpetual house party, have a secret identity. And if their ego is a Image may be NSFW.
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boisterous, rabble rousing, perennial good time, then their ID would have to be more pensive and introspective.
Who knew?
Early on SCOTS wrote a bunch of songs which didn’t exactly fit with the regular set, and the band would occasionally perform them as The Electric Pinecones, sometimes even opening for themselves. This latest release re-examines that folkier, sometimes psychedelic sound the band was so fond of.
The albums lead single, “Gray Skies” is austere and starkly beautiful, with vocals courtesy of Mary Huff. Moody and captivating, the songs calls on the memory of The Electric Prunes, and is mesmerizing. “Given to Me” finds Rick Miller and Huff harmonizing and sounding sweetly hopeful. This song would have been at home with their Countrypolitan Favorites CD. Mary Huff’s vocals are once again in fine form on “Dirt Road” Restrained and rock-steady, the swampy reverb-ed amps drip with Spanish moss, the smell of tobacco growing in fields mixing with salt air.
But SCOTS can never quite shake their playful side, nor would anyone want them to. An older song, the uptempo “Swamp Fox – the Original” is a carefree hip shaker. “Rice and Beans” is breezy and fun. “Downward Mobility” is a loose, end of the night jam, and unwinds lazily.
Closing out with “Slowly Losing My Mind” the band quietly simmers, like a great Sunday morning fog lifting number. Miller, Huff, and Dave Hartman continue to be reliably entertaining and manage more than a few unexpected surprises here with stunning results.
