For the second straight review we have a CD where the case is a narrow piece of cardboard with nothing on the spine. Argh. This one was one of four I bought by the same band, so I converted an old double album CD case into a case for all four and named it “The Bridge City Sinners Anthology.”. While they are all now in one place, I am committed to rolling them individually. Here’s the first.
Disc 1774 is…Unholy Hymns
Artist: Bridge City Sinners
Year of Release: 2021
What’s up with the Cover? The Bridge City Sinners’ logo, which looks like a pentagram inside an eyeball. If your iris looks like this, call a doctor, and maybe also a priest. You’ve got a condition.
How I Came To Know It: Last month I went to Vancouver to see Frank Turner in concert. While waiting for the show to start I was fascinated to see the lineup for the opening band’s merch table stretch back three times as long as Frank’s. Feeling inspired I got in that lineup, learned it was the Bridge City Sinners from their fans (who are hardcore), and by the time I was at the front bought a t-shirt and all four albums. This is one of them. It was done on a whim, but it turned out well for me.
How It Stacks Up: I have four Bridge City Sinners albums. I love them all, but they are all so new it is hard to rank them. I’ll say it is #2 but I reserve the right to move it around.
Ratings: 4 stars
It’s rare that music as old timey as the Bridge City Sinners can sound like nothing you’ve ever heard before, but such is the devil’s brew of styles they mix up. Be prepared for a healthy does of bluegrass, the soul of punk, combined with a healthy dollop of lounge cabaret that has run away with the circus. Oh, also, as the name would imply they sing about sin – and Satan in particular – a lot.
The genre busting is maybe best exemplified by lead singer Libby Lux, who also plays…the banjolele. I’ve never heard of the banjolele before Libby introduced me to it, but it is what the name implies – what a ukulele would be like if it were based off a banjo and not a guitar. It’s a weird combination of sound, half of both, and according to Wikipedia (which is never wrong) “most” popular in the twenties and thirties.
That tracks, because Lux and her band fell right out of an alternate past, where the world is a diaspora of sex, booze, sin and Satan. People dance about in the mud shirtless, wearing only work boots, baggy pants and floppy hats. There is much carrying on.
Yes that’s the vibe, you say, but how’s the music? Thanks for asking – the answer is…excellent. They’ve updated old timey sounds into something with a ragged and modern edge. Most tunes are played at a furious pace, and every instrument at any moment will be dropping staccato string strikes. Drums are entirely absent and entirely unnecessary. Despite the speed, everyone keeps impeccable time, allowing frontwoman Libby Lux to work her magic.
That magic is an unholy warble, as Lux twists her mouth around lyrics like they’re so hot they’ll burn her tongue, so lascivious that you can tell she likes them that way. Lux is a punk possessed, but never so out of control she’s not always serving the song and the arrangement – which can jump from one idea to the next several times in a single tune. Her passion pulls you through every curve, and you’re quickly drawn into all that energy.
As noted earlier, the Bridge City Sinners love singing about the dark side of the universe, and much like their two previous records, “Unholy Hymns” is replete with murder ballads, tales of drug abuse and, of course, the devil. There is even a double-shot of Lovecraftian horror with “The Legend of Olog-Hai” Part 1 and 2.
There are no bad songs, but one particular standout is “Devil Like You” a duet tale of newlyweds and murder where death-by-strangulation is the order of the day, and the romance part of the song very much past tense and ephemeral.
“Rock Bottom” is a bouquet of depression, cigarettes and alcohol, all of which are part of the dirgelike refrain of “no matter how low I go/there ain’t no rock bottom for me.”
The album ends with the title track, and the band doubles down on their apocalyptic but artistic vision as the narrator dies, finds out they are destined for hell, and yet remain rebellious and unrepentant:
“Hey Saint Pete how do I look
Sorry I didn't spend my life reading your book
I'll be fine don't pray for my sins
I'm going down singing unholy hymns”
Traditional bluegrass, this is not.
It is also not music if you are looking for uplifting tales of love and redemption, but if you enjoy the antics of a rogue’s gallery of murderers, drunks and devil-may-care rakes, then this music is a sinful pleasure. If as you may suspect, it is a little tongue-in-cheek, this takes nothing away from the brilliant writing and performing of gifted players who fully commit to their roles from start to finish.
Best tracks: The Devil’s Swing, Rock Bottom, Departed, Devil Like You, Unholy Hymns
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