Kasey Chambers
REVIEWS
BARRICADES AND BRICKWALLS, (2002)
Rating: 9
Best Song- A Million Tears
Worst Song- none
Written by Neal Grosvenor
One Friday night I was bored at home and stumbled across an episode of Austin
City Limits, which was a split show between Steve Earle and Kasey Chambers.
Right, I thought, this is definitely better viewing than Blind Date. I was more
interested in seeing Mr. Tough Guy himself Earle, but Chambers' set was first. I
had heard of her as kind of a country singer along the lines of Lucinda
Williams, but didn't really pay attention when both her albums came out and
didn't hear any of her tunes on the radio, which is normal since mainstream
Canadian radio plays utter SHIT! Ahem, anyways, so I really was instantly in
love with everything about her music. This I should make clear, since it wasn't
so much her - even though she looks like a REAL charmer - but the music,
songwriting, and band. Seeing her perform for 30 minutes on tv in front of that
Texan audience was mind blowing enough, but I can only imagine that it was 10
times better in person.
So Kasey is an Aussie and she happened to be in Austin, Texas on this particular
night playing on a legendary roots music show. I'm not really sure where in
Australia Chambers is from but I instantly thought maybe Adelaide (I'll have
to consult my Aussie consultant Sal) , a city I lived in for a time a few
years back. Anyway, as you drive into the heart of Adelaide on King William
Street you see a sign that says "Welcome to Adelaide" and below that "sister
city to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, Christchurch, New Zealand, and Austin, Texas".
I've never been to Austin, but if it is the sister city to Adelaide, it most
have a lot in common. Both cities are surrounded for the most part by desert
lands, and Adelaide is commonly referred to as the "gateway to the outback"
or "a big country town" Yes COUNTRY, as in country music. Anyway, this really
doesn't have much to do with the review, but the point is - I'm sure many
Americans ask themselves how Chambers can sound so much like she's from Nashville,
when she's actually from the land down under. Fuck 'em I say, she's grown
up on country music and goddammit she can belt the tunes out like the best
of them. We all can't sound like Men At Work can we??
Barricades and Brickwalls is Chambers' second album, and at this time, I cannot
say how it differs from the first cause I don't have the first one, but will
acquire it soon...possibly today. But I can say that I instantly fell for the
songwriting on this record. The lead off title track has a nice grungy distorto
Neil Young guitar sound and a lazy chorus, and just plain heavenly. "Not Pretty
Enough" was a single and reeks of "radio play bait" but it's pleasant enough. It
wouldn't sound out of place on Lucinda Williams' "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road".
Williams does make a guest appearance on the album and the two of them singing
together sounds like a down home corn roast at grandma's house complete with
biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak and an ice cold Bud (or if you're
Aussie...um, a barbeque with fish and chips and meat pies and sausage rolls down
at the beach drinking your VB).
If "A Little Bit Lonesome" totally milks the traditional country sound, "A
Million Tears" is totally Chambers' own sound. Melancholy, gentle and acoustic,
with a steady percussive backdrop, it is a truly moving song. It also reminds me
of a certain someone I love (if you're reading this you know who you are). Um,
so enough of the mushy stuff...there's a Gram Parsons' penned tune, "Still
Feeling Blue", which blends nicely with the rest of the songs, and anyway, what
would a country/folk/rock album be without a Gram Parsons song. Aussie
rockabilly punks The Living End accompany Chambers on "Crossfire" and their
inclusion seems like a logical choice to get that twangy sound, although they
can also steamroller a punk tune when they get into that mood. "I Still Pray" is
a beautiful duet with Aussie folk troubador Paul Kelly and a great end to the
album, which really is only marred by a bonus track which sounds like a bad
"protest" song from the 60s. It's heartfelt, I'll give it th
at, but it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
But really, this album is stunning and I guess I'm not the only one who has said
that at 27, she has a great musical future ahead of her.
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