Various Artists – Fireworks Vol. 2
Fireworks Vol. 2 follows three other quality compilations released by Sweden’s Sound Asleep Records, a.k.a. hardware-store guy by day, label titan by night Jerker Emanuelson. Thus, saying that this 25-song collection is the strongest yet is meant as high praise. Emanuelson’s passion is music that falls somewhere along the pop-to-roots continuum – Sound Asleep has released EPs from Bill Lloyd and Tim Carroll along with the compilations, in addition to a brand new full-lengther from Robert Crenshaw — and he’s corralled a good deal of that crop’s cream for his latest venture.
Among the tunes representing the pure pop side of town are a pair each from Jonny Polonsky (a one-man-band guy like early Richard X. Heyman or Adam Schmitt), John Moreman, and Walter Clevenger & the Dairy Kings. New songs from the Volebeats, the Quinsonics, and Tommy Womack raise the stock of the rootsy portion, as does a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” contributed by the always-welcome Schramms. Two album cuts from Kevin Johnson & the Linemen, “Look Over There” and “Helen”, give folks a chance to catch up with this underrated D.C.-area country-influenced outfit. And Lloyd, the mayor of that burg located smack-dab between pop and roots, also hands out a couple new ones, “Work in Progress” and the Dan Baird co-write “Ring Around The Moon.”
Plus, should anyone come to you looking for the definition of roots-rock, specifically first-rate roots-rock, you can now point them to Will Kimbrough’s “Godsend”. This cut from the ex-Bushmen leader and former Bis-quits and Nervous Wrecks member features big guitars dipped in twang, Southern-fried harmonies, and lyrics that expertly ride the line between cliche and near-brilliance (“Bachelor life, you’ve got two ex-wives/And a beer can pile/Night-club world, ashtray girl/She’s got a crooked smile”).