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Title: Not for Every Taste
Review: Old Paint is a throwback, music so roughhewn that you might expect to hear it on a scratchy 78 in some Appalachia cabin. This is mostly a matter of Freakwater's commanding vocals, intricate harmonies woven in almost hoarse, edgy voices of sleepless nights and smoke. It's a sound that works best for darkness, death, and dirges that make up the bulk of the songs here, but can also be surprisingly effective on upbeat numbers like Kentucky Home. When Freakwater sings, on Gone to Stay, "shovel, dirt and gravel/all his mother hears is the sound/of a little baby crying/somewhere in the ground," the words stay with you for a good long while. Not a CD you'll want to play when you need cheering up, and the singing goes shrill (Hero/Heroine) at times. But if deep, old-style country is one of your musical tastes, talented Freakwater should be heard.
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