[rating=9.00]
On her critically acclaimed debut War Surplus, Becky Warren tackled the topic of returning veterans and their complex standings in our society with lack of support and the way their struggles can rip up relationships. For her follow-up, Undesirable, Warren decided to tag along with the sellers of The Contributor in her beloved Nashville to find inspiration from another neglected group.
The Contributor, Nashville’s street paper, is sold around town by homeless and formerly homeless vendors. The vendors buy the paper from the non-profit that produces it, and then sell it for a profit. What Warren discovered is that each vendor had such unique stories, different than her veteran experiences and that there was more than enough inspiration for a record.
This is a great story from a PR point of view, but if the songs aren’t any good it wouldn’t matter. Thankfully Undesirable is a glorious slice of Americana rock and roll; brimming with confidence, hope passion and resilience.
Warren’s songs and lyrics are affecting, reflective and lived in. The record is full of these examples but one dynamite offering is “Let Me Down Again” which is defiant as she fights for herself, breaking out of co-dependent relationship. Having done the research (and marketed things this way) Warren allows the storytelling mode to kick in; where War Surplus was incredibly personal Undesirable is even more impressive as Warren successfully embodies others pain and fears through her songs.
“Dabb’s Avenue” is a slow waltz augmented by fuzzy guitars and raw singing along with gorgeous organ work which shows up often on the album. Each song has some musical twist to offer, be it the Tom Petty/Mike Campbell inspired bright guitar lines of “Sunshine State”, the punkish hard drumming in the sad growing up ode “Nobody Wants To Rock and Roll No More” or the fun bass led ditty “Carmen” which is danceable in a lighthearted boot scooting way. “You’re Always Drunk” is a cold-eyed honkytonk ramble, with a pedal steel guitar matter-of-factly stating for the record that the relationship is over, before “Highway Lights” peels out with rubber, steel and huge riffs.
While all of these tunes are solid, two-float to the top and display Warrens range. “Half-Hearted Angels” is a country weeper in the vein of Margo Price that cuts to the core while opener “We’re All We Got” is a pulsing rocker; an instant gem setting the scene, nailing the chorus and exploding with ringing support vocals from the Indigo Girls Amy Ray.
Warren’s clear contemporary connection is Jason Isbell, as both are artists manage to rise above the typical Nashville sound, taking a twangy approach to rock and infusing the whole countries heartache, despair and concerns into palpable tales that can devastate or elevate.
Up until the fading guitar solo and whoa-whoa-whoa’s of dramatic closer “The Drake Motel”, Warren succeeds over and over again, Undesirable may have started out as a specific look into Nashville’s homelessness but manages to go beyond fusing her cities human stories with larger world concerns in affecting fashion.
