AltCountry: The Silos' When the Telephone Rings

Get your Cracker fix. Not graham, animal, or cheese. Get your David Lowery Cracker fix by getting When the Telephone Rings by the Silos.

The Silos crank out some Cracker-fueled AltCountry on their latest album. Now, to be straight with y’all, the Silos have been doing their blend of “rock becoming AltCountry” since Cracker was Camper (Camper Van Beethoven, that is, back in the 80’s). And, to be fair, the Silos have often shaken off genre labels like AltCountry as fast as you can peel and stick them on. That said, if you like Cracker soul, you’re bound to groove on the rootsy farm barn dirt of the Silos.

Saying you can get your Cracker fix by listening to the Silos, isn’t that like saying you can get your chocolate fix by eating sugar-free carob chips?

Naw, it ain’t like that at all! It’s more like this. . .

You hear Cracker crank out this blend of country beat, rocked out, punked up a bit, like the twang you secretly enjoy but now it’s distorted. You’re thinking, “Cool! I’ll listen to this album forever.”

But then you start thinking, “I want more of this Cracker soul.” So you get the other Cracker album, but you still kind of want more people to grab hold of this same sound, more artists in the little Cracker section of your CD collection. So now you need to get a Cracker fix.

That’s when you hear the Silo’s When the Telephone Rings. There’s that Cracker sound. It’s not Cracker, and it’s not just mimicry, “Polly, want a cracker?” Instead, When the Telephone Rings taps right into the feeling you get from listening to Cracker, but more than a sequel, it’s a retelling of the same story in a new dynamic, from a different point of view, letting you relive the story in a wholly different way.

“The Only Love” gets the album jumping off the starting line, driving ahead like a good, hot-rod Chevy, a country rock song that’s country like a NASCAR is a stock, off-the-showroom-floor model. Walter Salas-Humara’s voice sounds like Lowery, especially on the slightly oddball lines like, “You can buy a new Volvo,” or “Let’s meet at the library/Then we won’t have to talk.” The sentiment’s a bit strange, sort of a word association game at times, but still the message thumps right into your heart.

Elsewhere, “Ready for Anything” is a country blues ballad with a bass line fill doubled on guitar that drops you into the dark hours of night’s reflective thinking. “Innocent” is a charged rock song, like punching the accelerator of a Mustang GT, and it comes barreling like Cracker’s “Seven Days.”

Instrumentally, the album fills the corners so beautifully—like a house band at a house party but this ain’t no sluffing. Each accent is emotionally placed; each entrance sounds like it is triggered by mutual nods across the room.

The accents are especially well-placed with Mary Rowell’s violin on “The First Move.” Empassioned, whirling, and spinning to the sky, it’s like Scarlet Rivera’s violin on Bob Dylan’s Desire, a violin sound I always wanted to hear more. Here’s the chance.

So get your Cracker fix. Remember, though, this is not an imitation or just more of the same. The Silos give you the sound you’re craving while storing up their own complete AltCountry approach.

Thanks to The Silos and Dualtone Records for the review copy.