Richmond
Fontaine’s third album Lost Son, released in 1999, is one of their bleakest
works. There is no frivolity here, the
music rages and rages through tracks like Saviour of Time, Ft. Lewis and Mule. The band come on much less like a country
band, and much more like a speed-punk band.
Guitars are pummelled, drums are pounded and Willy Vlautin clings on for
dear life, telling his bleak stories.
It’s an easier
listen when the music calms down a notch or two on Cascade, and on Contrails and
later Four Hours Out we even get steel guitar from Paul Brainard. Girl In A House In Felony Flats is dirge-like,
crawling along on guttural guitars, yet it’s strangely compelling. However few of the tunes are overly engaging.
Finally we get
the devastating Hope & Repair, which manages to take the story into an even
darker place, where a man takes in a prostitute only to see the whole thing end
in blood and complete despair.
It’s
exhausting to listen to and unremittingly bleak, not an ideal starting point
for this band.
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