American Band Rock: Wes McDonald's 1:50 in the Furnace

A friend of mine said that recently he’s only been listening to Phish. You could say he’s seeing everything through Phish-colored glasses.

If you haven’t figured it out already, there’s certain benchmark artists at Music Spectrum as well. As much as I boast about a broad musical taste, from rock to Hip Hop to electronica to AltCountry to punk, I still have to admit that even I hear everything through the filters of a few important artists in my musical education. Top of the heap, of course, is the Smiths—because they are the greatest band in the world. Others include Greg Brown, U2, and the Old 97s.

Last month I name-checked another one of the benchmarks, 54*40, saying that tvfordogs shares a great similarity with the Vancouver, B.C., group which I hold to be one of the best, unappreciated, unheard bands. That was last month, and now I’m hear to say that 54*40 is an even stronger comparison point with Wes McDonald.

As Wes McDonald sings “I Would Never,” the opening track of 1:50 in the Furnace, the voice of 54*40’s Neil Osborne is unmistakably present over the bluesy shuffle declaration of faithful devotion. Much like 54*40, McDonald has punk attitude with Paul Westerberg’s rock singing which combines rebellion and heart-on-sleeve emotion.

Shelving Wes McDonald next to 54*40 in the American Band Rock section may ignore the twang readily apparent on tracks like “All Revved Up,” where the Band Rock sound meets punk meets twang. At the times, McDonald could just as easily be compared to Jay Farrar as Joe Strummer. “All Revved Up” walks with a country barroom flair, but then the break down section leaves a punked up shout from McDonald.

“Shot Stereo” is an AltCountry skate punk rock that’s been mellowed into a fine groove like a Sam Roberts song. The track also has the great line, “My record puts out some demonic tones,” which McDonald quickly dismisses as someone’s ludicrous perception.

Of course, let’s not forget the Americana roots. “Brethren” is a Southern swamp rock vamp with Hip Hop attitude on an R&B/soul/rock groove. That just about sums up everything you might hear in McDonald’s music as it turns each corner, your head nodding as you think, “Aw, yeah, that’s where I wanted the tune to go.”

Finally, how can you not love a Southern blues rock that starts off with the line, “Like Princess Leia/From R2D2/Lord knows you’re my only hope” (“Wherever I Go”). It’s a song of confused attempts at love, and that blues just rocks our souls because we’re all confused by love sometimes.

Thank you to Wes McDonald and Skybucket Records for the review copy.