We’ve seen this before: A band adopting a persona, that is, in order to operate outside its usual modus operandi. Sometimes the results can be brilliant — XTC’s pseudonymous psychedelic outfit the Dukes Of Stratosphere, for example — while others are ill advised (Paul “Fireman” McCartney’s foray into electronica). Cracker initially tested the waters for its own genre-hop by touring under the nom du twang Ironic Mullet but, after being favorably received, opted to ditch the disguise when it came time to go into the studio.
Minus one Tex-Mex-flavored original, all the selections here are covers. Some veer toward the obvious end of the spectrum: Dwight Yoakam’s lovely “Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room” is rendered with graceful reverence, an accordionist adding Southwestern spice, while a pair of Merle Haggard tunes, likewise, ring with familiarity (in particular, a bleary-eyed “The Bottle Let Me Down”).
Other cuts may raise eyebrows, like the cantina-rock reading of Springsteen’s “Sinaloa Cowboys” and a poppy take on ex-Drover Ike Reilly’s “Duty Free”. But it’s the whiskey-bent and hell-bound version of Hank Jr.’s “Family Tradition” and the rousing sing-along on Ray Wylie Hubbard’s “Up Against The Wall Redneck Mothers” that’ll drag sloshed biker chicks in droopy halter tops and trucker-capped, mullet-sporting yahoos off the barstools and onto the dance floor.
