There are two things that can make a good album. One is good music, the other is alcohol. With its seventh album, Liquored Up and Lacquered Down, Southern Culture on the Skids (SCOTS) accomplishes both of these, combining intelligent and interesting music with alcohol references galore.
Southern Culture on the Skids
Liquored Up and Lacquered Down
TVT Records
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The title pretty much sums this album up. It's the story of beer and moonshine in the trailer park backwoods of North Carolina. It's swamp music meets blues meets rock meets who-spiked-the-studio-water-cooler? sound that has won SCOTS fame and acclaim during the past 15 years.
Songs like "Corn Liquor," "Drunk and Lonesome (Again)" and "The Corn Rocket" are testaments to the fact that this group likes its liquor and likes it hard. Rick Miller sings of moonshine and back country life like he grew up in the mountains of North Carolina (actually he grew up in California but, honestly, who cares?).
Liquored is diverse in its musical schemes. The band merges many styles to create a country rock sound that is distinctly its own. But on several tracks the band experiments with different musical ideas. Such is the case with the title track, which features a Mexican horn section, and "Drunk and Lonesome (Again)," which relies heavily on a classic piano.
The story-telling tradition of rural mountain life shines through on Liquored. "King of the Mountain" is the story of the king of corn and porn, and "I Learned to Dance in Mississippi" tells the tale of the band's trip to a sketchy Mississippi bar.
About the only semi-serious track lyrically is "Just How Lonely," which sounds the most mature musically. Sung by alternate lyricist Mary Huff, she rants of being cheated on and being alone.
Whether or not the band was actually drunk all the time in the studio isn't clear, but alcohol was certainly on its mind. The music is often playful and humorous, but at the same time is mature and well-constructed. With Liquored, SCOTS continues to roll out the backwoods rhythms.
