Sunday, August 30, 2009
A+E, Music, Reviews

CONNOR CHRISTIAN & SOUTHERN GOTHIC

“90 PROOF LULLABIES”  (VINTAGE EARTH)

Despite his band’s name, there isn’t much Southern gothic in Connor Christian’s sound. Rather, the Atlanta musician delves so heavily into the Southern pop of the ’70s—think the Atlanta Rhythm Section and Jim Croce, whose voice is eerily similar to his—that he might consider changing the group’s name. Christian’s soulful, melodic approach doesn’t necessarily scream “I love the ’70s,” but he has been substantially influenced by the music of that decade, down to this album’s faithful cover of Brewer & Shipley’s AM-radio gem “One Toke Over the Line.”

Occasional mandolin, fiddle, pedal and lap steel, along with some banjo, bring more red clay attributes to these songs. As long as Christian doesn’t try too hard to emulate the Pogues on the forced “Chipping Away” and sticks to the breezy rhythms of the following “Evangeline,” this album (released earlier this year) stays in safe, enjoyable territory
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    Eschewing the poetic hell-raising of the Drive-By Truckers or the more twangy aspects of the Old 97’s, Christian latches onto ear-pleasing hooks—as in the cheerful singalong “Winter” and the lazy, loping “Good Morning Sunshine” (a song title that does scream of the ’70s)—displaying a knack for pop songcraft with a distinctive Southern flair. Even the occasional rocker, such as the closing “Meet My Angel,” where he slips in a surprising and unnecessary F-bomb, works, due to Christian and his band’s musicality and easy, rolling electricity. Taken on its own somewhat limited terms, that’s enough to make “90 Proof Lullabies” a smooth, often tangy potion. 3 STARS—Hal Horowitz