There is nothing like a song starting out with a guy singing into the sound hole of an acoustic guitar, the equivalent of recording in a dorm bathroom or singing into a garbage can, to make one pay a bit more attention to the music and that is exactly what the ol’ Suitcase Junket dude does in the video now playing on NPR’s web page. Suitcase Junket. Seems to be a trend these days for solo artists and duos to pick a band name, band or not, though to be truthful Matt Lorenz, the Junket’s real name, is a one-man band who really sounds like a band. At times, a full band. To make the sounds he relies upon (not surprisingly and according to his PR people) “a resurrected dumpster-diamond guitar, an old oversized suitcase, a hi-hat, a gas-can baby-shoe foot-drum, a cookpot-soupcan-tambourine foot-drum, a circular-saw-blade bell and a box of bones and silverware that operate much like a hi-hat. He pounds out rhythms with his feet and his twang-and-buzz guitar growls through a couple of old tube amps. On top of all this is the ethereal edge of his overtone throat-singing.” Instrument companies hate him but he gets five stars for recycling.
You have to give him credit for being creative beyond his instrumentation, too. The music he has been pumping out over the past number of years (this is his third album) is quite varied in spite of the obvious limitations he has placed upon himself. “Earth Apple,” as you can see and hear if you watched the above video, is guttural and brash and has a rocking tone which I would compare to Ireland’s most excellent Stephen Young & The Union; “Made of Rain” sounds like it was recorded back in the late-fifties at one of the many oddball recording studios built when rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll became popular; “Twisted Fate” could be a late-fifties precursor to what I call Modern Folk— that period which saw The Kingston Trio and The New Christy Minstrels topping charts; and the Petunia & The Vipers vibe on “Hot Rod God,” while not quite as jazzy or thirties-infused, is unmistakable (at least, to us Petunia fans worldwide).
The core is folk or, I suppose, Americana (if you insist) and it is a good core to build upon, which is what Lorenz has done. I did a little digging a la YouTube to make sure, though, and I can attest to the talent. His music may be straight out of a dumpster, especially when you pay close attention to the rough edges, but it is sincere and, in places, damn good. Damn good!
While doing my research, I ran across a review here on No Depression which I think you should also read, written by a person under the username ‘Sad Songs Keep the Devil Away.’ (read the review here) I wish I had read this in January when this album was first released. I was nine months behind and didn’t even know it.
