Brand New Faith EP from Mat d. and the Profane Saints
author: Jim Pipkin - HickoryWind.org
the more I listened to this thing, the more I had to play it again. The first tune, Lye Soap Cigarettes and Gasoline, has hidden lyrical gems all through it -
"Thrift store quickie underneath a truck stop sunrise
Keeps the soul alive
Pack of cigarettes and a ghost in the back seat
There wasn't nothin' to do but drive"
Can't argue with that.
There are five out of five notable tunes on this disc, like Shine On Me, where it feels like Bob Dylan meets Jimmy Swaggart fronting Molly Hatchet after a weekend in Bangkok.
Betty Got Saved bemoans the loss of a first-rate sexual adventuress, in graphic detail.
Bound For Glory salutes that stitched-up-knife-wound optimism that I just dig the hell out of.
Finally, This Truck Makes More Money After Midnight is an anthem for everyone who has ever found an honest lifestyle - how shall we say this - confining.
Do yourself a big favor, trundle over to matdandtheprofanesaints.com and meet this strange dude for yourself. Give his tunes a listen. Buy some stuff. And if you are ever trapped in Iowa, near a honky-tonk called Sweet Fanny's, roll on in and shake his hand for me between sets.
But under no circumstances should you introduce him to your sister.
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Mat d. and the Profane Saints - Brand New Faith EP
author: BluesBunny
Following on from last year's rather fine "Small Town Burning", this EP from Mat D and the Profane Saints made a welcome arrival at Bluesbunny Towers. The storyteller again brings us more tales from the underbelly of life.
Redemption remains a strong theme in these songs. The characters are painted vividly in words and music and would fit nicely into a Jim Jarmusch movie, for example. "Betty Got Saved" gives us a potent illustration of the power of a woman to transcend both good and evil. "Bound for Glory" is a musical allegory for the loss of belief and hope that afflicts society today. Despair and emptiness fill the life of the protagonist of this song as he approaches his demise. "This Truck Makes More $$$ After Midnight" plays like Johnny Cash on speed and features some quality licks from new band member Kelli Johnson. One of the characteristics of the best song writing is the way that it creates images in your head as you listen. Mathew DeRiso (aka Mat D) has provided with 5 excellent examples of this art.
No surprises on this release therefore but the Bluesbunny thinks that once you get the taste for it you cannot get enough of this quality of music. Neatly performed and possessing a literacy and warmth of spirit missing from so much music these days, Mat D and the Profane Saints have done themselves proud again. Available by worldwide mail order from CD Baby.
Bluesbunny - www.bluesbunny.com
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New EP from Mat d. and the Profane Saints
author: J Wynia/The Glass is Too Big
...Mat and crew have taken that rough chunk of coal, cut and polished it and the resulting EP: Brand New Faith is a much more mature release in nearly every way a collection of music can be.
The song structures are more complex and Mat, while still doing some of that cruising-along-monotone that appropriately drives the song "This Truck Makes More $$$ After Midnight", is also exploring much more of his tonal and dynamic range on "Bound for Glory".
The EP and the music overall are in that Americana/Roots Rock/Alt Country/Grit/Honky Tonk/Blues Rock/Whatever genre that has been growing over the last few years. The themes tap into some of that same mythology and themes that something like HBO's Carnivale explores. Many of the bits are familiar, including the vocabulary of faith, but with that gritty twist that makes it interesting...
Overall, it reminds me of bits of Ray Wylie Hubbard and The Legendary Shack Shakers, but unique in its own way. That's a good thing.
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Working Man's Roots Rock
author: songs:illinois
The list of characters named in "Shine On Me" include "trannies at the truckstop," "devil's in the laundromat," "lesbians with tattoos," and "ugly chicks with beer guts." This is Larry The Cable Guy if he had a rock band that only played beer and shot joints just off the interstate.
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