Sliding The Mayhem String Band’s new album Land Pirates into my car’s CD player almost gave me a mild heart attack because of my strong love for well-played bluegrass and local musicians.
I often become weary when listening to adored bands’ new albums because once in a while, they try changing their sound as an improvement with no luck.
But to my delectation, Mayhem successfully presented an array of talent on its new album with no faults and no superfluous instrumental solos.
The album features Ben Johnson (bass), J.T. Lack (banjo, vocals), Kevin Larkin (mandolin, accordion, harmonica, vocals), Ferd Moyse (fiddle), Chris Steiner (guitar, vocals) and a special treat Jimbo Mathus on slide guitar and piano as a special treat.
The first review star goes to Mayhem for recording Land Pirates the way it should be recorded – deep in the Mississippi Delta at Delta Recording Service in Como, Miss., instead of in Kentucky or Virginia studios where so many other plucking banjos are heard.
I fully support any recording studio helping get music out in the world, but if a bunch of bluegrass-playing Mississippi boys recorded this album anywhere else besides their homeland, it would be a shame.
The studio’s head honcho Mathus plays slide guitar in “County Road Blues” and piano in “Comoto Waltz.”
With playing for Squirrel Nut Zippers on his resume, Mathus adds the sound of experience to Land Pirates.
The album’s first track, “The Fat Wind Blew,” instantly made me want to do two things while listening: drink moonshine and dance like a Clampett – both of these things telling me I have found a good bluegrass band.
If I can sit still during a high energy, banjo-heavy song, something is not right, and if I do not crave sitting barefoot on a blanket in the sun eating a watermelon as I listen, the music is not good enough to be called bluegrass.
With an attention-catching song as the first track, I was once again nervous as the music faded and track two started. Albums go one of two ways when the first song is great: the rest of the songs do not meet the expectations of their predecessor, or the music keeps getting better. I finally exhaled when “County Road Blues” made me just as happy as “The Fat Wind Blew.”
Larkin starts off the song pulling on a harmonica, setting the mood for a song that makes it hard not to slap your knee or tap your foot as the rhythm keeps moving.
Anyone listening that did not grow up in or around Mississippi would not understand the distressed lyrics, “There ain’t no pork fat in my kitchen/There ain’t no pork fat in my veins,” but anyone whose taste buds know the difference with and without pork fat knows how upsetting that can be for a hungry Southern man.
One of my favorite songs on Land Pirates is “Bring it With You When You Come,” written by Gus Cannon of Cannon’s Jug Stompers. While it is one of the album’s two songs Mayhem did not write, Cannon would be proud of the band’s rendition of his song.
The instrumental fifth track “Costas Higgins'” sounds like Bela Fleck tunes twisted with traditional Irish music.
If listeners understand the complexity of playing strings, they will appreciate the speed of Larkin’s fingers as he plays the mandolin in “Costas Higgins'” with ease and comfort. Moyse enters laying down the fiddle, proving he deserves filling the shoes of original fiddler Jameson Hollister on this album. The banjo skills of Lack mirror the experience of someone playing the instrument 30 years or more, and Johnson and Steiner complete the sound with their outrageous playing skills that reach far beyond the skills of many musicians I have heard on the radio.
Between traditional bluegrass instrumental songs and upbeat jigs, the band offers listeners slow songs concentrating on banjo and mandolin fill licks, creating the perfect slow-dance song.
The album’s final listed song is the traditional “Fly Around My Pretty Little Pink.”
The first words uttered on the track are, “Alright boys, we’re rollin’,” giving those listening an in-studio feeling.
I considered myself extremely pleased with the album as it ended on a note just as high as the one it started on.
Then my heart fluttered a bit when a fiddle softly faded in with no prior notice of a following song. I soon recognized the fiddle playing as one of my favorites, “The Battle of New Orleans.” The song ends with hearty laughter from band members and to my surprise, a raspy Southern voice of an aged man begins to compliment the boys on their “playing.”
I realized how important the man’s opinion of Mayhem’s playing is after Larkin informed me the man is his 90-year-old neighbor who still plays the fiddle, making him a bluegrass expert.
The multi-minute conversation between the band and Larkin’s neighbor gives listeners insight into how Mayhem feels about its profession. And as of now, I have yet to hear an album ending its play time better than Land Pirates.
I do not award stars out of pity or kindness. I rate albums for instrumental, vocal and lyrical talent. Musicians also score points with me when they manage to add personality in their album mix, like Mayhem did with the hidden track familiarizing me with the band without reading a bio on a Web site.
Mayhem’s greatest accomplishment on Land Pirates is its writing and composing nine of the 11 songs and the fabulous jam of “The Battle of New Orleans.”
The band put all it has into its new album, from Larkin creating the artwork to the inclusion of a personal conversation between the band and a 90-year-old fiddler.
It would not have been surprising if five hearts had fallen out of the CD case when opened because of the band’s deep devotion to making good bluegrass, heard from the very first note all the way to the last spoken syllable.
Even though some people no longer get excited about local bands playing in Starkville, once upon a time The Allman Brothers were just two brothers in the Allman Joys playing any gig it could secure in accepting bars or special event and Yonder Mountain String Band was once a local bluegrass band in Colorado that now fills nostalgic venues like Red Rocks to the rim.
This only proves local talent is never anything to throw darts at. If you are a fan of live bluegrass music and cold drinks, Dave’s Dark Tavern is the watering hole of choice Friday night.
With songs from its new album and a few good oldies, Mayhem String Band will play Friday at Dave’s, taking the stage at 10 p.m.
Purchase or download Land Pirates or Mayhem’s 2007 studio album Rapscallions and Ne’erdowells on its Web site mayhemstringband.com.