Corb Lund, a native of Alberta (Canada’s Cowboy country) has dubbed his specific brand of music “Agricultural Tragic.”
The catchy tag is remarkably self-aware and makes a pretty apt title for his latest record. Lund’s variety of infectious Americana/Country/Bluegrass covers a lot of territory to be sure, but that territory of his latest includes plenty of horses (“Raining Horses,” “Never Not Had Horses”), wild animals (“Grizzly Bear Blues”) and ranch life in general (“Louis L’Amour,” “Old Men,” “Ranchin’, Ridin’, Romance”). Impressively, he still manages to make it all surprisingly relatable.
Over the course of 10 or so albums, Lund’s has been refining his writing style and has settled into a solid knack for injecting liberal amounts of humor into his music. The best example of this is on the closing track, “Tattoo Blues” and the catchy, yet sage “Old Men”.
Elsewhere, on the stellar duet “I Think You Outta Try Whiskey,” Lund and fellow Canadian Jaida Dreyer come off as a modern day Johnny and June, complete with the train chugging guitar sound best associated with Cash. Lund even visits his indie rock past on a song like the driving “Oklahoma.” More so than any record before it, Agricultural Tragic is his most musically exhaustive effort yet, seamlessly slipping in and out of a slew of different genres. And somehow, the album has a cohesive feel, despite appealing to everyone from cowboys to indie pop kids.
Thematically, he mainly sticks to what he knows about having grown up in the foothills of the Rockies – horses, cattle and booze. The fact that he can make the rural life seem so relatable to everyone else is still a mystery. Lund’s first album of all new material in five years – following last year’s surprisingly eclectic covers EP (from AC/DC to Nancy Sinatra) – Agricultural Tragic is also among one of his best yet in an already inspiring 25-year career.
