At one point in Stephen King and Peter Straub's bestselling 2001 collaborative novel Black House, small-town DJ, ardent rock fan and principal character The Wisconsin Rat invites protagonist Jack Sawyer over to share a new musical find."Every five years or so, another great rock 'n' roll song comes breakdancing out of the woodwork," says The Rat. "This is a great rock 'n' roll song."
The tune in question is "Gimme Back My Dog," a rollicking, deceptively simple back-beater from Slobberbone's third full-length, Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today. And anybody familiar with the rising Denton, Texas, quartet would likely agree that the sentiment applies to an admirably large percentage of the band's playbook.
"We didn't have any prior knowledge of it or anything," says singer/guitarist Brent Best, who heard about the Black House passage from a fan on the band's Internet discussion list. "It's out of left field, and it's nice to get a nod from anyone, but for it to be more than just mentioned in passing, something a main character goes on about … it's really gratifying."
"Gimme Back My Dog" serves as a fairly apt encapsulation of the Slobberbone sound — a loud, twanging, balls-out style adept at juxtaposing the country and the rawk, the upbeat and the down-and-out, the microcosmic and the universal. Its subject matter effortlessly transcends the tale of a woman who took the pooch with her when she left, to become a metaphor for all things, material and otherwise, lost in the wake of a relationship gone bad. It's a truly original and poignant way to say it; then again, it works just fine as a well-penned ditty about the bitch that snatched the pet, if that's your pleasure. But plenty of those who heard the song dug deeper, to Best's unexpected satisfaction.
"I was surprised in a really good way, because that was the intention on that song," he says. "I had to decide that I didn't care that it would just be a goofy song in some people's minds. I was really surprised at how many people got that.
"I enjoy writing simple songs that are actually greater than the sum of their parts. It's my favorite kind of songwriting, and it stripped away any sort of lingering inhibitions I might have had."
A gifted lyricist, Best's words are informed by the archetypal vignettes of classic American roots and country music, emotionally resonant slices of life painted in detailed strokes. It's a tradition that, when well used, creates experiences with which anyone can relate, and Slobberbone manages it masterfully. Unlike, say, nearly every hit pop-C&W track to dominate FM country airwaves in the last eight years or so, where the idea has been watered down to convention, to caricature, to so much cheeky wordplay.
"You can almost see a big formula chart on the wall," carps Best, justifiably. "Find a cute turn of phrase, and pound the crap out of it without taking the song anywhere that's worth going. It's all so completely low-calorie."
While definitely influenced by all manner of roots music, the band has never willingly called itself an insurgent country act. Three albums' worth of dynamic, drawl-inflected tuneage has certainly endeared them to the y'allternative nation's more adventurous elements, but those who've caught the band live (including the numerous promoters bent on billing them alongside acoustic, bluegrass and even contemporary country outfits) know they're holding down the "rock" side of Uncle Tupelo's fence-riding seesaw. Best, bassist Brian Lane, drummer Tony Harper and guitarist Jess Barr whip up a cathartic, sweaty live-gig energy that would make a young punk-brah proud, with the added bonus of more than one dimension.
Their new full-length, Slippage, drives this point home more succinctly than any other S-bone release to date. Surprisingly light on now-familiar instrumentation like banjo or accordion, Slippage crackles with a reinvigorated enthusiasm for the primal rock-band setup. They recorded much of it live together, and several raw early takes made the final cut. Tracks like "Springfield, IL," "Write Me Off" and the standout, surprisingly Afghan Whigs-esque "Sweetness, That's Your Cue" rely on burly hooks and a surging urgency, to startling effect. Elsewhere, some deft melodic garnishes are added by friend and current tourmate Scott Danborn, but the disc is largely a stripped-down affair, and an immaculately executed one at that.
"We definitely streamlined it," Best confirms. "Those songs were a little more melodic, and maybe a little more subtle, so we sort of consciously held back on the instrumentation."
He adds that a desire to offer something different than the excellent, overtly eclectic Everything You Thought … was also a factor.
"There was also some of the porch-y stuff on the last album, and we've been doing it a lot live over the past two years — we were ready to get back to just guitar and drums."
Which is not to say that Slippage doesn't contain its share of the band's textured, evocative slow burns. The mid-tempo "Sister Beams," the highlight "Live on In The Dark," and even a cover of The Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" all stand with Slobberbone's best work. The album also carries on their penchant for expertly pairing dark themes with gorgeous and even upbeat music.
"I like really pretty songs that are actually very ugly under the surface. It can be a powerful thing," says Best. "'Sister Beams' is a very pretty song, but at first listen, you might not know how dark the lyrics are. You kind of have to work into it to find out what's really going on."
For all of their genre-confounding sonic facets and layered lyricism, Slobberbone is, at first and last listen, a rock 'n' roll band, albeit one of a singular quality rarely associated with the term these days. And though the group has yet to find a place for itself amid commercial radio's largely predictable, dispassionate fare, they've managed to attract an engagingly disparate fanbase, one that ranges from indie kids and college-radio listeners to old-school country fans and hard-rock lifers. The one thing they seem to have in common is the fact that for them, like the members of Slobberbone, music, regardless of style, is more than something to listen to — it's something that moves them, that takes up residence in their lives.
"Music never means more to you than when you're actually living your own life, and it becomes a soundtrack," agrees Best. "The weather just changed, and that cool feeling in the world always makes me think of specific music from my past. It happens in the spring, too, or certain smells might set it off. That's what makes music so powerful for some people."
Music critic Scott Harrell can be reached at 813-248-8888, ext. 109, or at scott.harrell@weeklyplanet.com.
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2002.