Hoping to hear about the new Ghost album? Well, outside of this teaser, you won’t be. I barely made it through one listen earlier this week. A terrible record from a band I otherwise love. At a recent visit to the record store I exclaimed that with their latest effort it felt like Ghost was deliberately making fun of its audience. To which a fellow Ghost fan behind me noted, “haven’t they always been doing that?”
“Yes”, I replied, “and I’ve generally enjoyed it, but this time they crossed the line.”
On to review an album I liked considerably more…
Disc 1828 is…Stampede
Artist: Orville Peck
Year of Release: 2024
What’s up with the Cover? Our titular masked cowboy, chillin’ with cool kids of various persuasions. I love Peck’s outfit, which gives me ideas for how I can repurpose my suits upon my retirement.
How I Came To Know It: Orville Peck doesn’t always work for me, but I’m sufficiently intrigued to give each of his releases a chance. Often, I move on. This time, I lingered.
How It Stacks Up: This is my only Orville Peck album (although I have been on the hunt for 2022’s “Bronco” for some time now). Until I find it, there’ll be no stacking up.
Ratings: 4 stars
Duet records tend to be a mixed bag. Some of the pairings can sound like two songs stitched together awkwardly and some just feel forced or – worse – a competition. On “Stampede” Orville Peck avoids all the common pitfalls and delivers one of the finer collaborations I’ve heard in a while.
Peck accomplishes this by making each duet a true partnership. He lets himself be immersed in the style of each collaborator, while bringing his unique sound into the mix. The result is like the design a talented barista puts on top of your latte; distinct and intricate, even as it blends into itself before your eyes.
The album’s opener is a great example. “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other.” The song’s a duet with Willie Nelson, and despite his propensity for a more Vegas style urban cowboy delivery, Peck allows Nelson’s moseying style to take the lead. The song has a timeless sway, and a lot of heartfelt fun. Fun fact about this song for those who don’t have the benefit of liner notes – this is a cover of a 1981 single by singer/songwriter Ned Sublette. Kudos to Sublette for being so far ahead of his time to write a song about gay cowboys, but if you’ve heard the original it suffers from Sublette’s vocals which are just…OK.
Not so with Willie Nelson and Orville Peck in charge. I’m not a huge fan of Willie Nelson, but that quaver is unmistakable and as welcome here as a tall glass of lemonade on a hot day in the south. It pairs well with Peck’s rich baritone and natural showmanship. Both men command a stage with their vocals, but they do it with very different approaches. The blend is quite lovely.
A few songs later, Peck is up to similar (but different) tricks with Beck on “Death Valley High,” a song that would have been at home on Midnite Vultures except for all that Las Vegas back-country sound. This is western music yes, but it’s the kind encrusted in rhinestones. The Beck/Peck combo is also great. The two singers are again distinct, and the tradeoff between them is a delight. It is also a thoroughly groovy song that will have your head bobbing and (if driving) encourage lead in the foot.
If “Death Valley High” isn’t sufficiently groovy, fear not, because later on the record you’ll get the absolute treat of Peck pairing up with latter-day disco diva Kylie Minogue on “Midnight Ride”. This song has that Minogue-specific back beat that commands you to dance, and to do it right now. Peck channels his best Vegas Elvis vibe (which, FYI, is really good) and matches her energy groove for groove, hip shake for hip shake. Listen to this song at your peril, because it is a serious earworm.
That’s a sampling of the funkier side of the record, but there is also plenty to offer on the country side of the ledger. Peck’s collaboration with Margo Price on “You’re an Asshole, I Can’t Stand You, and I Want a Divorce” that channels “Fairytale of New York”, minus the holiday spirit.
On “Papa Was a Rodeo” Peck cuts up some serious old timey fun with Molly Tuttle. It is a bit weird where Peck says, “pick it, Molly” before her solo. Like Molly needed anyone’s permission or encouragement to be the world’s greatest living guitar player. Yeah, you heard me.
There are even songs on this record I normally dislike (Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting”, Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy”) that in the hands of Peck are lifted up to brilliance (“Rhinestone Cowboy”) or in the case of “Saturday Night…” at least made tolerable. For the latter, I think I noticed the lyrics for the first time ever, and it helped considerably. Thanks, Bernie Taupin.
This willingness to meet multiple styles halfway could easily make for a disjointed record, but through it all Peck is the stylistic centrepiece. He has a natural charisma that oozes out of every note he sings, and he stands tall as an equal partner with some of music’s greatest legends (also, with Midland, but even that works).
While not every track is as bangin’ as “Midnight Ride” there is a balance of excellence overall. Also, it is a lot of fun, so if you don’t like fun, maybe avoid it. But seriously, that thing you have where you don’t like fun? You should get that checked out.
Best tracks: Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other, The Hurtin’ Kind, Other, Death Valley High, Papa Was a Rodeo, Midnight Ride, You’re an Asshole I Can’t Stand You (And I Want a Divorce), Rhinestone Cowboy
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