Jack Logan – Nature’s Assembly Line
Of the many things about Jack Logan that continue to impress, one of the most admirable is that his clubhouse approach to writing and recording has never become a gimmick. Beginning with 1993’s Bulk, the two-disc collection that landed him prominently in the pages of Rolling Stone and elsewhere (he was even profiled on “The Today Show”, fer chrissakes), the Athens, Georgia, musician has pretty much adhered to the philosophy that good music and great songs can spring from informal gatherings where the beer flows freely among musician pals.
That methodology works to near-perfection on Nature’s Assembly Line. With a goal throughout 2003 of writing three songs every Monday night, Logan and his cast of gifted enablers — Kevin Lane (the Possibilities), Rob Veal (Dashboard Saviors), Aaron Phillips (Liquor Cabinet), Rob Keller (6 String Drag) and others — completed 94 songs, from which 15 were culled. As one would expect, a spirit of loose camaraderie abounds in the playing, but the writing and the arrangements leave no doubt these guys mean business.
High points include “Dad’s Suitcase”, a midtempo rocker that taps a rarely-mined stylistic territory between Lou Reed and Neil Young; “Diggin’ In”, which sounds like the Zombies gone country, if you can imagine such a thing; and “Come Away”, a song with a dirge-like tempo and droning guitars that bring to mind the Jesus And Mary Chain.
Lyrically, Logan continues to offer up gothic musings inspired by everyday ephemera (one song is titled “Broken Machines”; another, “Spotty Glassware”.) He also pitches in occasionally on guitar, at one point bashing out a rocker titled “River Of Sweat” with glorious two-chord abandon.