Blue Cactus Capture 70s Cosmic Country Vibe on ‘Stranger Again’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

It’s hard to miss the distinct ‘70s vibe of Stranger Again, the second album from North Carolina duo Blue Cactus.

During that decade, Willie, Waylon and their buddies flipped the middle finger to Nashville’s Music Row and headed to Texas; Cosmic Country brought together the rednecks and hippies; and Fleetwood Mac managed to win over millions with an ethereal mix of female/male vocals singing about every aspect of heartbreak. It’s that history that Blue Cactus seems to have soaked up and reinterpreted for a 2021 audience with their latest record.

The moody compelling album opener “Blue As the Day,” with Steph Stewart taking over on the vocals, appropriately teases much of what’s to follow. But there are a few surprises, like the band’s latest single, “Rebel,” a fantastic up-tempo country rock track with Mario Arnez on vocals. Just as solid, but a little slower, is the Stewart-fronted title track, which beautifully shows off her range as a singer. It’s a stripped down, emotional song that manages to defy categorization, and it could just as easily be covered by anyone from Dolly Parton to Paul Simon. The album closes on “Space Country,” a beautifully trippy nearly two minutes long near-instrumental that perfectly ties up the album and gives one final nod to the 1970s eclectic and wildly experimental music scene.  

The fact that the band has toured with a pretty diverse set of bands (The War & Treaty, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, Lilly Hiatt, Junior Brown) speaks to their ability to straddle genres and draw from a wide bench of musical influences. Admittedly, the album does sound a little heavy at times and could use another driving track like “Rebel” to break up the sound, but it’s still a great effort from a band not tied to current musical trends and templates. It’s got plenty of twang without coming off as forced country nostalgia and enough hooks and universal lyrical themes to win over pop music fans.

PRESS PHOTO BY CHRIS FRISINA

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