This live LP (and download for those inclined) picks up where previous live albums left off and show another side to Will Oldham’s work. Other live albums showcased his rock and folk inclinations but here his music sounds like it belongs on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry rather than in the clubs he usually frequents. Wonderfully performed and perfectly captured, Funtown Comedown sees Oldham push further into a mainstream country sound like he did on last year’s Beware (though strangely includes no songs from that album here). However, his charm and larger than life character still come through strongly.
Picking through songs both old and new, Oldham and his band take the most country-ish elements of Oldham’s songs and amplify them. Mandolins, banjos and fiddles are backed with a double bass, bringing the music back in time to an era where artists like Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard were clearing the path for whippersnappers like Oldham. Already acknowledged by Cash (who covered Oldham’s “I See a Darkness”), Oldham in turn tips his (pink baseball) cap to Haggard with a cover of “Ramblin’ Fever.” Elsewhere, a cover of The Stanley Brothers’ “Hemlocks and Primroses” brings attention to the influence of bluegrass on Oldham’s writing. Taken together, these covers show how wide-ranging Oldham’s writing is; he amalgamates so many different styles of songwriting into his own idiosyncratic style, cherry picking the best of each style for his songs.
With the Picket Line backing him, “Wolf Among Wolves” loses all its sinister undertones and instead sounds like something that Patsy Cline would have sung (although maybe she would have drawn the line at howling but who knows). The transformation reinforces the wolf in man’s clothing imagery in the song, the bite of the words hidden beneath all the prettiness. Cheyenne Mize’s backing vocals on “Lay and Love” may be less dramatic than Dawn McCarthy’s original vocals on the studio version but Mize imbues the song with an equal amount of tenderness and a quiet beauty. Mize’s vocal contributions throughout the album act as a suitable foil to Oldham’s own cracked singing.
Although Funtown Comedown can be viewed as a stopgap release before Oldham unleashes his next album (The Wonder Show of the World coming out in March according to a saucy internet viral video), it would be erroneous to discount it as being just for completists. Just as his last live album Is it the Sea? stood proudly beside his classic studio output, Funtown Comedown also rubs shoulders with his best work. Granted the songs are all familiar (even if I’ve never heard Oldham sing them before) but the spin the band give on the songs make them sound new again.
This review was made from the vinyl version of the album, so unfortunately there are no sound samples at this point in time, apologies!
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