Great Divides is the fifth album for the Seattle-based alt-country rockers Massy Ferguson (MF), who, for lack of a better reference point, are the Pacific Northwest’s version of the Drive-by Truckers, (DBTs) at least in terms of their aggressive, no-holds-barred guitar-driven attack. You would expect a heavy, dense sound. After all, they take their name from a tractor company. The songwriting is quite different than the DBTs though, as one delves into the music of this effort, those comparisons begin to fade. Massy Ferguson obviously doesn’t sing of the south, nor are they politically motivated (some may read that into the title), and they have one frontman instead of two. MF is a core unit of just four – Ethan Anderson (bass/lead vocals), Adam Monde (guitar), Fred Slater (keys) and Dave Goedde (drums). Anderson and Monde write the songs with themes rooted in small-town adolescence and wresting with the challenges of adulthood in the thriving city. The divides, if you will, are the miles, both literal and figurative that separate the two.
There’s a blaring in-your-face sound that resembles that of a much larger combo as Monde’s guitar soars, rumbles, and slashes amidst Slater’s swirling organ and choruses that seemingly have all four members chiming in. At times they become cinematic as they draw out their sketches of Northwest life. The band’s been together now since 2006 so it’s quite natural that their songs now bring a new level of maturity. Anderson grew up in a rural area, sheltered from the world by deeply religious, strict Penecostal parents. As he looked for his own sources for inspiration he turned to country and folk music and later to the harder rock of Seattle’s bands. So, the elements of country and rock have long been the pillars of the band’s sound. His background is evident in songs like “Maybe the Gods’ and “Momma’s in the Backseat.”
Anderson is a fan of authors like Cormac McCarthy, Raymond Carver, and Willy Vlautin, carrying their style of literal minimalism into his songs. They may sound simple, but there’s often a ton of detail and imagery wrapped into his storytelling, shifting moods from the dark to the exuberant. He’s trying to make sense of his world, heard best in the standout track “Don’t Give Up on Your Friends” where he sings with a new reflective perspective of his teenage years like the boy who never left his hometown. The opener “Can’t Remember” has him as a 21-year-old Seattle newcomer who doesn’t quite know how to handle his new surroundings. He drunkenly talks to the cocktail waitress who would eventually become his wife. We eventually get to “Wolf Moon,” where Anderson is married with two children, imparting some lessons to his two children, as Slater brings some elegant piano. Leading into that tune, “Saddest Man,” one of the calmer songs, offers strong emotional lyrics and the most explicit country feel due to the pedal steel. The closer, “They Want 1that Sound,” forms a bookend to the pounding opener “Can’t Remember.”
Mostly MF moves along like a strong indie rock band, especially from the opener through “Drop an Atom Bomb on Me” and the aforementioned “Maybe The Gods” and “Mama’s in the Backseat.” They bring looseness and urgency with a smattering of punk brashness. MF recorded with Martin Feveyear (Kings of Leon, Brandi Carlile) both at a studio in Seattle and at Feveyear’s home studio. Apparently, MF formed some arrangements and lyrics almost on the spot. That spirit comes across in the recording. They certainly come across honestly and unpretentiously. After all, why reinvent the wheel or be clever when at heart it’s simply a matter of rock n’ roll. Crank it up. Don’t sweat the small details.
