Best Albums of 2014 #8: Hard Working Americans: Todd Snider is America’s stoner philosopher. The genius with which he can distill complicated feelings into simple words with both humor and insight has Snider without a peer this side of John Prine. Though much of his career has been in the singer-songwriter tradition, these lyrical hallmarks were also present when I first began following Snider as a young rock and country roller in the mid-90s. To that end, it’s great to hear Snider once again fronting a real rock band. For The Hard Working Americans, Snider recruited some jam band buddies from Widespread Panic, Great American Taxi and the Chris Robinson Brotherhood. The band’s debut is an all covers affair, but though Snider’s lyrical genius is not on display, the well curated batch of songs include tunes from the likes of The Bottle Rockets, Drivin N Cryin, and Randy Newman. Snider commands the noise like his old days, and the good news is the band is not a one-off, as Hard Working Americans now are eying a set of originals for album two. Sign up.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 19:34:10 +0000
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