Wooden Wand - Death Seat (Vinyl LP, CD)

It seems like seconds ago that I reviewed an earlier Wooden Wand LP. This is his debut on Young God and barely has a label and artist fit together so glove-like. Its dark, back porch, slightly eerie, very bleak, coming from a lineage starting with Hank Williams veering past Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, and resting at the somewhat over populated world of the slightly deranged singer songwriter. This is, as you may expect, a marked improvement on previous work, not only are the songs much stronger and more memorable, the arrangements elevate it past his at times erratic back catalogue The music is carefully fleshed out but not over cluttered, other instruments just add to the dynamics and don't disturb the lonely sparseness which I think suits his work. It features contributions from various Lambchop, Silver Jews, Mercury Rev sorts. Wooden Wand is the alt country outsider who may just win the race.