Miles of Twine takes country-blues-folk at its finest
and adds awe-inspiring cello, bar banter wisdom and a few
wild cards for good measure, hearkening back to a mythical
time when men were men, moonshine flowed freely and a musician
couldn't get by if he didn't play a mean fiddle and whistle "For
a Fistful of Dollars" in his sleep.
The band, which showcases the talents of multi-instrumentalist
Paul Fonfara, touring partner with Jim White and sometime
member of too many Denver bands to mention, also features
members of Tarantella, 16 Horsepower and Woven Hand. With
such a well of skill to draw upon, many records would end
up a hodge-podge of half-realized ideas, but the Painted
Saints keep a good balance between down-home charm and
exquisite melody. From the title track's relatively simple
buzzing plucked viola, more Earl Scruggs than classical,
to more intricate arrangements such as "Kerosene"'s
winding desert caravan ride (resplendent with clarinet
and glissando strings), not a single track misses its mark.
Even the tunes that push the six minute mark don't grow
old easily; "To Answer Monotone"'s acrobatic
violin ranks among the album's best moments (an achievement
in itself.)
Fonfara's lyrical persona resembles the drunk at the saloon
bar who's seen it all. In "Company Town", he
morosely says, "They'll kick you in the balls when
you're two feet tall", but he isn't too cynical to
wax nostalgic in the aforementioned "To Answer Monotone."
Painted Saints occasionally veer off their dusty roots-based
track. The wailing bowed saw in "Barbed Wire and Tin" creates
an expansive but desolate mood. This ultimately gives way
to a Tom Waits circus soundtrack -- all theremin and what
sounds like creaking gramophone records. While tempos and
ambience vary from the frenetic Tex-Mex of the bizarrely-named "The
Volvo King of New York" to "Cardboard and Silence
Saved Us Again"'s languid Dirty Threeisms and louche
whistling, the record maintains a remarkably coherent feel,
held together by excellent playing.
Miles of Twine is not merely an excellent, evocative album,
but something rarer -- one of those hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck
recordings that comes out of nowhere and inhabits your
CD deck for weeks. Let's hope it gets a wider release.
