The Sadies— God Bless the Infidels

This just in. I am an idiot. Not out of choice but out of laziness. For a number of years now, friends have been telling me about The Sadies— how much I would like them, how good they were, how they would soon rule the musical roost. I didn’t completely ignore them. I watched a couple of videos and found them impressive enough but somehow put them behind me and moved on, saving my energies for bands and artists I considered more deserving. Like I said. I am an idiot. Here was my introduction to the band.

I watch it now and wonder why I dismissed them out of hand. Music like this has always been ear candy to me— roots-heavy, psych-infused, guitar-centric. Ninety-nine percent of the time I embrace such bands whole-heartedly— well, when the music warrants it, and these guys warrant it. They have warranted it for years, I now realize, and am once again playing catch-up.

Oh, they weren’t and aren’t all rock and psych. They have and have had the ghost of The Flying Burritos and a few other classic country rock bands hovering over them at times, and other ghosts and genres.

I should have known just from the long list of collaborators the band has worked with— Neko Case, John Doe, and others— but I evidently have a tendency to disregard the successful for, after all, they are successful and don’t need my help. Watching the videos now, though, I am rethinking my attitude.

It took a reminder from Yep Roc’s Lellie Capwell and a new album to finally make me stop and listen to The Sadies. A simple note. After seeing the artists you like, I would think these guys would be automatic. So I did my research and here we are. As a result, the new album, Northern Passages, is already at the top of my list for 2017.  

There is enough music here to please anyone with ears and even a semblance of heart. A little folk/psych, some twang, some straight psych, some folk— all wrapped in a music tortilla and with a variety of sauces. “Riverview Fog” has a light rolling Simon & Garfunkel folk/psych feel to it, the harmonies smooth and reflective.   

“The Good Years” has the same feel, a bit of country rock mixed in giving it that certain aura which separates it from other songs which may sound similar but which do not have the heart tug— love lost, two ships passing in the night, a real chance at happiness vaporized, though that is too strong a term. “The Elements Song” is more upbeat but in the same ballpark, fuzz guitar and production separating it from the previous two. Might I note the excellent jam ending also. Though far too short (one and a half minutes), it is sixties psych in a bottle and a perfect capper. “Through Strange Eyes” mixes electric and acoustic in a rootsy folk way, “God Bless the Infidels” could have come straight from the Burritos songbook, and “Questions I’ve Never Asked” ends with a section which sounds as much like The Blues Magoos as anything else. “There Are No Words” is reminiscent of The Leaves on their classic self-titled album on Mira Records— the mix of folk rock and psych a flashback to people like me who lived through the period.

Kurt Vile makes an appearance on “It’s Easy (Like Walking)” and I am sure will bring a few new Sadies fans into the fold.   

I have to laugh. People are already complaining about the lack of good music in 2017 and it has barely started. Truth is they won’t find any because they are not looking. Already I have a number of albums in the queue for album of the year— Daisy House (Crossroads) and Lost Leaders (Heavy Lifting) leading the list alongside The Sadies. These three alone prove to me that music is as good as ever. I suggest that unless you are listening to music on that handheld device to which you are so attached, put it down and start listening. Northern Passages is a good place to start.