London Folk Magazine and News
´Wet and Unlucky´ by Tiger Saw & The Reasons Why - Album review
ALBUM REVIEW
´Wet and Unlucky´ by Tiger Saw and The Reasons Why
Country music is no stranger to sadness. In fact melancholy and longing are staples of the genre.
The new collaborative album by The Reasons Why and Tiger Saw however, goes way beyond your traditional songs of love-sickness round the campfire or heartbreak at a truck stop.
In “Wet and Unlucky” we are taken into a deeper, more malevolent sadness. An endless, inescapable urban monotony of loss, loathing, abuse and despair.
These days it´s a bleak world for a guitar picker.
The title track,´Wet and Unlucky’, sets the mood of dreamy dystopia, which continues throughout most of the release.
The Reasons Why build lush, textural sounds of trudging beats and pedal steel wails, over which Dylan Metrano of Tiger Saw lays his terribly vulnerable vocal of a man nearly broken.
Each track soaks effortlessly into the next, like a lucid dream, flowing through disparate yet familiar scenes. The yearning slides of the pedal guitar and the glassy tones of the piano providing a perfect backdrop for the poignant lyrical narratives.
There is a shift in tempo at the track ‘Ellie Bean Strut’ which is driven by an infectious bass hook and grooving drums. This improvised instrumental, born out of a live studio jam, adds momentum to the album. I wish it had been allowed to develop further. It left me hoping for more uplifting tracks, but maybe that´s the point; a few brief minutes of joy just make you taste the pain more keenly.
Quickly the levity is contrasted with the serene but bitter-sweet ‘Watching Reruns of our Love’, littered with heartbreak and nostalgic references to Bonnie & Clyde, Johnny Cash and June Carter.
Overall, this collaborative effort is filled with sensitive instrumental arrangements, complemented by understated yet emotive harmonies (I especially enjoyed the super low vocal line). All coming together to give emphasis to the carefully crafted lyrics.
I’d recommend this album to listeners looking out of the window on a rainy day, searching for company in sadness. Happiness is, after all, a sad song.
