Beaten Awake - Thunder$troke

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 10 / 11 / 2009

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Review

For several reasons, Beaten Awake proves an unlikely inclusion on Fat Possum's blues and swamp trash roster. Still, here comes 'Thunderstroke', and immediately I found myself lost indefinitely with it. Jon Finley's voice on 'Suite Cheeta' and 'I'm Not Asking For The Moon' is so reminiscent of Smog's Bill Callahan's that I perhaps at one stage entirely misinterpreted 'Thunderstroke'. Track 7, 'Danger Pins' leads me again towards such a notion. Finley and Callahan share in between them more than just the darker side of the moon. 'Thunderstroke' is very unlike an 'I'm going to jump off the bridge' routine of turning obligation into oblivion. The recording of 'Thunderstroke' was overseen by Patrick Carney (of Blakroc), and alas this exclusively benefitted the sound quality. The languish from Beaten Awake doesn't in the slightest compare, however, to the Black Keys going offrail, like in precious past times. Beaten Awake hark back at mid-1980s country rock, like Green on Red plus others from the Paisley Underground but there's little fun 'n excitement to be remembered from that era. In the future, equally, 'Thunderstroke' will be accounted for as an error. Please don't get me wrong, 'Thunderstroke' would have been a darn fine album on another label but Fat Possum has a reputation to fulfill.

Track Listing:-

1 Mr. Thompson (Can You Dig It?)
2 Suite Cheetah
3 Thunder$Troke
4 Gyro Quake
5 I'm Not Asking for the Moon
6 Coming Home
7 Danger Pins
8 (Untitled)
9 Mr. Thompson
10 Halo V
11 I Shot the Mayor, Not the Deputy Mayor

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