Album Review – The Turnpike Troubadours – “A Cat in the Rain”

Over the last few years, the notoriously gossipy world of the Turnpike Troubadours has in many ways been centered around the sharing of saucy details about broken marriages, frayed friendships, shouting matches and fisticuffs, and salacious headlines spelled out on grocery store checkout rags in a way you absolutely never expected to see from your favorite group of guys from Oklahoma, especially since much of the world summarily ignored them previously.
Headlines promising revelations upon the real reason everything almost went off the rails with Turnpike have been used to lure you in and pony up to pass through paywalls, but this is not the full story, or the most important one of the last six years of the Turnpike Troubadours. The ultimate story is one of triumph. It’s one of the overcoming and vanquishing of demons. It’s one of the perseverance of love and friendship through the hardest of times and the most contentious of moments.
The story of the Turnpike Troubadours is one of a victory, where the better angels of a bunch of friends from Tahlequah, Oklahoma refused to allow some moments of weakness and the outside noise to tear asunder something that time has revealed to be of incredible valuable to country music, ultimately avoiding what has happened to too many important artists and bands in the past, and even coming out on the other side stronger from the tribulations.
The story of the Turnpike Troubadours is also one of forgiveness. It’s the story of never giving up hope in something you love, no matter how dark things may get, or how far away resolution may seem. There may be no music or melody behind it, but the story of the last six years of the Turnpike Troubadours is a beautiful movement of country music all unto itself, encompassing so many of the classic themes that country music often calls upon.
No matter what music is contained in the Turnpike Troubadours’ new album A Cat in the Rain, holding this album in your hand, or having it streaming out of your speakers is a gift you’re likely not to take for granted, because you know it almost never came to be. In the streaming era of music, few if anything matches that anticipation you felt back in the release days of yore as you ripped off the cellophane of a vinyl, or fussed with that little theft prevention sticker that ran across the seam of a CD case. The Turnpike Troubadours have brought that magic of breathless expectation back to the hearts of Red Dirt fans.
A Cat in the Rain wastes no time whatsoever conveying that purifying feeling that only the best Turnpike Troubadours songs can impart. The haunting chorus of voices underpinned by a lone mournful banjo leads you into the opening song “Mean Old Sun,” and you immediately are sated, basking in the warmness that is that assurance that Turnpike is still here and still has it, almost like they never left.
“Mean Old Sun” is about the aftermath of frontman Evan Felker’s disillusioned marriage, then bending one’s self to hard work for absolution, while ultimately coming back out on top by being honest to yourself, and refusing to be counted out. Inspired by his time convalescing on a cattle ranch on the Texas coast before reuniting with his wife, “Mean Old Sun” is a master stroke of Evan Felker poetry.
The opening two songs of A Cat In The Rain are worth the fuss to procure this album even if nothing else is. They constitute the greatest one/two opening punch since “Every Girl” and “7&7” on Turnpike’s debut. “Brought Me” is a chill-inducing multi-genre-inspired song with flairs of Celtic and Cajun influences written with strokes of Old English, constituting a love letter to Turnpike Troubadours fans that stuck it out with them.
When Felker sings, “At an old barroom in Tulsa, I looked up and you were there,” he singing generally about the band’s return at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa on April 8th, 2022. But more specifically he’s singing to you, the Turnpike Troubadours fan, including the grown ass men who were sobbing like babies when they took the Cain’s Ballroom stage, and everyone else who was there in spirit.

Some worry was expressed when Shooter Jennings was announced as the producer for A Cat in the Rain. This came after Sturgill Simpson initially agreed to do the job, but then set up parameters that the band just didn’t feel comfortable moving forward with. With the job Red Dirt legend Mike McClure did on their debut Diamonds and Gasoline, what Wes Sharon did on their subsequent albums, and Shooter’s propensity sometimes to get a little strange, there was some initial apprehension.
But A Cat In The Rain very much feels like a Turnpike Troubadours album. If anything, Shooter’s greatest stroke was making sure the voices of all the Turnpike Troubadours members were represented more than they’ve been in previous works. The album begins with all the band singing in chorus, and that’s also how it ends with all of them taking “Won’t You Give Me One More Chance” out. Together.
Quite a bit happens in between. “The Rut” is a classic Turnpike Troubadours hunting song, maybe not at the level of “The Bird Hunters,” which beat out all others to earn Saving Country Music’s Song of the Year in 2015. But the way Felker weaves the warm feelings of memory that accompanying hunting trips with family and friends into the rhythms of a song is quite intoxicating.
“Chipping Mill” written by bassist R.C. Edwards and songwriter Lance Roark adds a little bit of lightheartedness to what is an otherwise heavy album, including the foreboding “Lucille.” Similar to “Mean Old Sun,” “A Cat In The Rain” feels like a track that is deeply personal to Felker, though the story is a bit more obtuse. Perhaps it’s about another country performer known for opening her heart to stray animals. Perhaps it’s not.
The music is always great, because among other positive attributes, the members of the Turnpike Troubadours are all considered top tier players at their respective positions, whether it’s guitarist Ryan Englemen, drummer Gabriel Pearson, or Kyle Nix on fiddle, who you also hear a bit more in the vocal mix on this album. Having multi-instrumentalist “Hammerin'” Hank Early also gives Turnpike the latitude to being different textures to each song, like their unexpected cover of “Black Sky” by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, with Early’s dobro making for a country blues sound we haven’t heard from Turnpike before.
Like “Chippin’ Mill,” the song “East Side Love Song” previously released by Evan Felker solo feels like one that will grow on you over time, and be great live. The album ends with a couple of songs in “Three More Days” written by former Turnpike member John Fullbright about looking forward to the end of a tour, and “Won’t You Give Me One More Chance,” which is an old Lee Clayton song. The last two tracks are relatively straightforward, simple songs compared to Felker’s writing. Taken in it’s entirety though, A Cat In The Rain feels like a quality effort, with no concerns to register about a post hiatus slump.
But one of the most impressive and uncanny attributes of Turnpike Troubadours music is how it tends to grow even better over time. This is a mark of craftsmanship and quality, and one that has graced their music from the very beginning. It’s one of the reasons they entered their hiatus in 2019 as a popular, but regional Red Dirt band, and exited headlining major festivals coast to coast.
The Turnpike Troubadours are one of the premier country music acts of our time. It may take some time for everyone to realize that, but the world is slowly waking up to it. They’ve been playing the long game since the beginning, and a Cat In The Rain falls right in line with the rest of their albums that will be enjoyed fondly in the present tense, and probably even more in the future.
Because the music of the Turnpike Troubadours isn’t just music. It’s so entwined with the memories of fans, it feels elemental to life. We know that now. Hopefully with all the bumps in the road beyond them, we’re never forced to learn that lesson again.
8.4/10
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August 25, 2023 @ 7:50 am
Great album, great review, amazing band. The red flag issue is I need 18 songs, not 10!
August 25, 2023 @ 8:41 am
Always better an album that leaves you wanting more than an album that has too much fat on it though.
August 25, 2023 @ 7:52 am
The Rut is so damn good
August 25, 2023 @ 9:57 pm
Great review. Great album. What a band.
August 25, 2023 @ 7:57 am
Please come to the upper Midwest! Ready and waiting….
August 25, 2023 @ 11:53 am
I bought my tickets for December in Milwaukee as soon as they went on sale yesterday!
August 25, 2023 @ 1:01 pm
Ya!! I just saw the Milwaukee and Sioux Falls dates earlier this morning. Minneapolis would be ideal…. as Milwaukee a little far. Can’t win ‘em all!
August 25, 2023 @ 7:57 am
What a sight of relief… all is right in the world again! As always, such a pleasant listen and smart writing. A classic Turnpike record. Welcome back boys. We missed ya.
August 25, 2023 @ 7:59 am
Yep, love it. Somehow they’ve managed it again – not a single bad track. Like many I suspect I was a bit nervous that they couldn’t get the old magic back but it’s there for sure! The writing, playing, all excellent. And I have no production concerns at all – it’s a little different, but Turnpike Troubadours all the way through.
In what for me has been a slightly disappointing year for releases this is my favourite by far. Just got to look forward to CWG next!
August 25, 2023 @ 7:59 am
East Side Love Song, better know by me as Bottoms Up has been a favorite for years. Got lucky on day when it randomly came up on an Apple Music radio shuffle. My ears were like that’s Turnpike but my mind didn’t recognize the song. Turned out to be A solo effort from Felker. Really like the full bands take on the song.
August 25, 2023 @ 4:06 pm
I think he took the reference to Kingston (Texhoma Game Club from the 1990s) out of this version. That’s my only disappointment.
August 25, 2023 @ 8:19 am
This album sounds great. Feels great, too. I’m glad they’re back.
August 25, 2023 @ 8:21 am
“….that purifying feeling that only the best Turnpike Troubadours songs can impart.” Come on….that’s a little over the top and….ok…..unmm…fine – totally true.
Best compliment I can think of is that it sounds like a Turnpike Troubadours album. And I’m glad I was wrong to be concerned about the production…it sounds great.
August 25, 2023 @ 8:27 am
New music from the greatest country music band in the world. I could not be happier.
A Cat In The Rain (the song) is my favorite.
August 25, 2023 @ 8:32 am
Cat in the Rain (the song) was way better than the grainy cellphone acoustic version that floated out there. Great track.
As the whole album feels like an allegory for the rise, fall , and redemption of the band and specifically Evan, my only complaint is for there to be one or two up tempo redemption jammers in the 7-9 slots making the whole album 12 songs. I figure they’re saving that for their quick turnaround follow up album…..a guy can dream.
August 25, 2023 @ 2:11 pm
I also suspect we might get another one before long
August 25, 2023 @ 8:46 am
After a couple of listens, I give this a definite “it’s damn good!!!” Like so many others I was afraid for so long we’d never have a chance to experience the feeling of anticipation that exists in those few seconds between when one unheard TT song ends and another begins.
Currently listening to new Zach Bryan an noticed this line in East Side of Sorrow:
“If you ever get the time come on home
I heard Turnpike’s back together and they’re writin’ songs”
August 26, 2023 @ 3:25 pm
I caught that call out too and it made me smile:0
August 25, 2023 @ 8:47 am
Great album that seemed to tell a story throughout about appreciation for fans and family and not a single miss. The Rut and Cat in the Rain were the standouts for me especially the line on the latter “If pressure makes a diamond babe I still might come out clean”
August 25, 2023 @ 9:05 am
Can’t believe the day has finally arrived. It felt like Christmas morning. I’ve been wearing “Brought Me” out ever since it was released as a single and feel like it will eventually solidify itself as one of the top tier songs in their catalog, if it hasn’t already. Also, I see what you did there with the use of “asunder” in the review…
“A Cat in the Rain” is also a standout IMO and very glad it got the full band treatment, instead of just the acoustic version we had been given. Agreed on Shooter’s production and glad he let the guys do what they do best. It’s refreshing having a band like this you can trust to consistently release great country music (along with Mike and the Moonpies…).
Well written review and great album!
August 25, 2023 @ 9:13 am
Are you me? Lol. I shouldn’t even have commented elsewhere, because you are spot on, including mentioning Mike and the Moonpies.
I say the Moonpies are my favorite band, but if I’m being honest with myself they may have taken the crown due to the Turnpike hiatus.
What treat to have both these bands battling for the top spot and touring, hopefully for years to come.
August 25, 2023 @ 10:40 am
Agreed, they’re both the cream of the crop. Definitely 1a and 1b for me. The Moonpies’ don’t have a bad album, but “One to Grow On” is one my favorite albums of all-time.
My dream is for them to someday tour together, but it seems that Turnpike likes to switch up their openers from show to show. Fingers crossed, though!
August 26, 2023 @ 10:51 am
Mike and The Moonpies and Turnpike Troubadours are my 2 favorites as well! It would be a great to see them both together on the road!
A Cat In The Rain is everything I wanted and expected in a Turnpike album! I love that Evan can reflect on the last few years and capture those feelings into great new songs!
August 25, 2023 @ 9:06 am
I don’t think I can contribute anything more to the great words said about this fantastic record already, so I just want to acknowledge how well Shooter did producing this record. He’s at the top of the game right now.
August 26, 2023 @ 5:31 am
I was thinking the same thing. I’m glad they passed on Sturgill if he was wanting them to follow his vision rather than their own. The worst thing for Turnpike after a few years of turmoil would have been to release some off the wall album. Shooter’s job was to make sure this sounded like a Turnpike Troubadours’ album, and I think he accomplished that.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:06 am
Such a blessing to finally have a new album from Turnpike! Great album – Definitely did not disappoint. I’ve been loving the new singles for the past few months and now finally have an album to immerse myself in. Last time I saw Turnpike live was August 2018 at BBR. Evan was clearly going through some shit at that point… and wasn’t surprised by the hiatus in 2019. This band has been through a lot over the past half decade. So glad to see the band healthy, touring, and putting out new music. Sure hope we don’t have to wait another 6 years for the next album.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:06 am
This and the new Morgan Wade album on the same day! Feels like Christmas in August.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:08 am
I was legitimately nervous to listen to this album today, because the built-up expectations were so high. I didn’t listen to any singles ahead of time.
There wasn’t a song that blew my mind at first listen, but like Trigger says they were never really that type of band, anyways. There are several songs on this album that I will be listening to 10 years from now, no question.
The album fits right in with all of their other albums like they never left, and I have no indication it will not be held in any less regard as time goes by.
I’m so thankful to have this album when we all knew there was a strong possibility it would never happen.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:15 am
Man, I feel like I’m taking crazy pills, because this is just … not a very compelling album. May God strike me down for saying it.
That’s the hardest sentence I’ve written in a long time. I’ve been to see Turnpike twice since the reunion; just as excellent as I ever hoped, because I hadn’t been able to see them before. I’ve bought every album I could on a physical release and display them with pride. I own a few t-shirts. I’ve shoveled hundreds of dollars at the band in one form or another. And why?
Because I think every single album between Diamonds and Gasoline and Long Way From Your Heart are basically perfect compositions. There’s not a single track of filler on those albums – not to say every track is of identical quality, mind you, or that every track is a rip-roaring honky-tonk barnstormer, but that every song is justifiable in its inclusion. They’re consistent albums, but not samey; every song is identifiable as a Turnpike track, but each with very different textures and meanings and reasons to exist. So few artists have that ability, and it’s what separates the greats from the goods in musical production, and it’s also what separates the good albums from great artists from forgettable albums from great artists – on a great album, the album tracks don’t just sound like worse versions of the hits, they’re compelling on their own for their own reasons.
I think this is, assuming that the hits on the album are actually good, is the essence of what makes for a great album. Giant hits, wonderful songs, can come from otherwise really crummy albums. The final good CCR song, “Someday Never Comes,” came off of a legendarily awful album. Even discounting “Mardi Gras” level catastrophes, plenty of big songs (and, indeed, big artists) came off albums full of bland mush. Smashing Pumpkin’s “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” is full of absolutely classic decade-defining songs, but it’s held back from truly “great” status by the huge number of samey tracks in between them. America’s “Horse With No Name” is a staple of boomer-rock cassette tapes in Malaise-era muscle cars everywhere, but that’s a truly stinky album. Hell, even humongo artists like Katy Perry, purveyor of so many late 2000s and early 2010s mega hits (and come on, you know California Girls is a banger) has exactly zero “good albums – ” albums with hits, sure, but those hits are surrounded by bland sonic slime and, most offensively of all, songs that just sound like the hits, but worse.
And that’s the essence of what makes a good album. Obviously, not every song on album can be a mega hit (unless it’s “Thriller,” of course), but every song on an album needs to be a mega hit. In fact, they probably shouldn’t be – not every song on an album should be a foot-stompin dancing track, or a barn-storming guitar riff filled anthem. We’re working with 45-65 minutes here of media – just like how a movie shouldn’t be nothing but one-note car chases or a book nothing but lurid setting description, albums should, while remaining a cohesive whole, present varied textures and moods across the album. Every song off “Aqualung” sounds like flute-infused fuzz-filled progrock, but they don’t all sound like “Aqualung.” You’ve got nefarious tracks full of sleaze, gentler tracks like “Wind Up” with stripped down instrumentation and barer vocals, and your requisite shit-kickers. That’s why “Aqualung” is a classic album. This isn’t genre specific either, it’s the hallmark of any great artist. Not every track on “OK Computer” sounds like “Karma Police,” and it’s infinitely better for it. Albums shouldn’t have tracks completely divorced from each other, of course (the reason why the 1983 Genesis album, despite having more hits, has basically no artistic value compared with the 1980 and 1981 ones) – “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” is all earnest lo-fi crunchy indie, but it goes places. It creates different moods and textures and feelings and settings and instrumentation.
Want some country examples? Sure! Have a listen to Corb Lund’s “Cabin Fever,” a desperately underrated disc full of about as many different flavors of Corb Lund as there can be. They’re not all impeccable tracks, but a listen through the album will give your tastes of country-folk rebellion, whimsical narratives about interesting characters, Willie-style pot-smokin lighthearted comedy about cops and tour buses, a classic crime ballad about an antique, and goth chicks on platform boots. But all of it forms a cohesive whole, never feeling like a random choice or afterthought – you’re getting the whole Corb Lund experience. Righteous! Or, heck, want more mainstream? Go back and give “Shock N’ Y’all” a listen some time. Not every track on there is amazing, but it’s all part of a cohesive whole of the 2003 Toby experience – flag waving patriotism, bar-pleasing instant classics, like at least two pastiche-jazz songs, and a comedy song about the Taliban. It (mostly) all deserves to exist, even if it’s not all mega hits, because it conveys the point of the album and the artist through the varied styles. Is it all great music? No. But it’s a worthy album.
And Turnpike does (did?) this best. Every track on a Turnpike album sounds like Turnpike, but they don’t all sound the same. They’re not all narrative epics like “The Bird Hunters – ” and that’s a good thing! We get luxuriant narratives about Lorrie and Jimmy and all those other characters, but we also get beautiful witty depression-jams about getting dumped after a party. We get Cain’s Ballroom crushing rockers like “The Mercury.” We get outlaw ballads like “Winding Stair Mountain Blues.” Dainty little love songs like “Oklahoma Stars.” So many wonderful expressions of talent, of artistic intent, of soul, of that exclusively Turnpike sound. Novellas of Red Dirt, full of ups and downs and twists and scenes and stories and emotions, different tempos and time signatures and somehow always defying the tropes of genre to make a one of a kind sound. Even the more experimental tracks sound right – the 2016 single “Come as You Are” is a sublime piece of luxuriant waltz with backup vocals and a slightly more closed-in sound.
To say that I was excited for the new album is perhaps the understatement of the decade. I found Turnpike right as “A Long Way From Your Heart” debuted and instantly fell in love. Finally! Here was this amazingly poetic, intelligent, musically robust, and fundamentally authentic band that I had somehow missed for seven years. I was hooked.
And then their world fell apart.
I sat and waited. I prayed it worked out for them all. I listened to the solo projects, that amazing Evan Felker “Back Pasture” rendition of “Good Lord Lorrie.” When I saw their social media pop back into life, it was like a dream come true. I bought tickets as soon as I could, and that concert in Tuscaloosa was like a dream – and the one in Atlanta was even better. But I wanted more music – who wouldn’t? So I listened to the bootlegs – and what a wonderful album it was shaping up to be! That fragile, gorgeous “Cat in the Rain” rendition at Red Rocks, just Evan and guitar, was exactly the kind of thoughtful, lovely, poetic, clever songwriting I hoped for. Forget the seeming simplicity – it’s a beautifully complex song, full of syncopated and enjambed lyrics, symbolism enhanced by the vulnerability of the music. Quintessential Turnpike, a beautiful production. Then the singles came out. “Mean Old Sun” was a classic Turnpike minor-key jam, full of meaty metaphor and just enough edge to keep it from feeling overly sentimental or a slog. It’s a great track, a little on the simple side, but a worthy part of any Turnpike album.
Then I heard “Chipping Mill.”
I don’t know what the reviewers were talking about. “Chipping Mill” Is just … not good. At this point, I had noticed that the three songs I had heard were about Evan’s recovery and relationship with his woman – worthy topics, mind you, and it was so incredibly heartening to see him healthy and happy and secure. But it was still three songs about fundamentally the same thing, right? And you can make albums feel distinct with similar themes, but it was still a little concerning. But what was fundamentally so much more concerning was that Chipping Mill just kinda … sucked musically. It’s at this just not-quite fast enough tempo, awkwardly phrased and written. Seriously, it just starts the lyrics with a pretty lame repetition stanza with naught but a pretty wimpy fiddle flourish, no lead-in sentence, no extended first stanza. It’s not musically particularly complicated or interesting with its pretty lame solos, it’s not danceable, it’s not particularly catchy, there’s not much in the way of lyrics. It’s worse than awkward, it’s boring – and it doesn’t even sound that much like a Turnpike song.
Which was weird, right? I mean, even “Bossier City,” a pretty raw album, sounds a whole lot like Turnpike, right? The sound had developed, for the better, from “Diamonds and Gasoline,” but all those tracks sound like Turnpike. Sure, “The Funeral” has a few awkward phrases and could have done with a little more melodic movement, but it’s still a wonderfully illustrated piece of narrative. But here was this new track that just … didn’t sound that much like Turnpike. So what had changed?
Then I read an interview and I saw.
Shooter Jennings.
I’ve never met him, I don’t keep up with much in the way of news, so I have no idea about what he’s like as a person. He might spoonfeed sick puppies on the weekend or whatever. I have nothing against him personally. But I hate Shooter Jennings’ production. Everything he touches is just this sludgy, bland rock-adjacent stuff, not compelling from any angle, like a full-figured old-school Nashville sound without any of the artistry. Just like “Chipping Mill.”
So, okay, you’ve got a stinker as a B-side. Whatever, it’s just one song – maybe it’s just one song. Maybe it didn’t even make it onto the album. Then we got the next single, “Brought Me.” And it was … okay. It was definitely better written than the last single, and it was definitely catchier – if the intention was for an arena clap-along, then this was a pretty decent effort. But there were still really weird things about the song. Again, it was fundamentally about the same topic as the last two singles – a better attempt than “Chipping Mil,” but still about the relationship and recovery. And the production! Forget the bland drums, forget the weird backup vocals (pretty un-Turnpike,) listen to that crispy-ass autotune on Evan? I’ve seen Evan twice since the reunion! I watched the sets from Stagecoach and Newport! He can sing just as well as he ever could! It’s goddamn country, vibrato is not a bad word! What kind of monster would autotune Turnpike? By this point I wasn’t excited for the album anymore. I was scared.
And, unfortunately, I was right. I was terribly, miserably, right.
“A Cat in the Rain” is the worst ever Turnpike album.
The two good singles are the first two tracks. That’s weird for a Turnpike album, especially because the two songs are both pretty “big,” rocking songs wherein usually the first two are sort of meatier tracks, but okay. They’re good rockers. Then we got the first album track, “Lucille.” It’s pretty good. It’s on the weaker side musically, but it’s a well-written 3 / 4 time sad waltz, and it’s, mercifully, about another topic, but the vocals sound a little weird, it could do with another verse, and – there are those backup vocals again! But okay.
We get Chipping Mill. My feelings are already apparent.
“The Rut” is next. It’s one of the better tracks. It’s a better presentation of the album theme than some of the other tracks because we’re working with an extended metaphor of a character besides Evan, and here the backup vocals (again? That’s every track!) are more harmonically interesting. The autotune is less noticeable, the lyrics are artful, the chorus is singable. It’s not an amazing song, but it’s a good, well executed song.
Then the album track. Good god, the album track.
We all heard the bootleg. It’s gorgeous. Masterfully lyrical, beautifully minimal instrumentation. Wonderful, tactful music.
And the album throws that all away. “Cat in the Rain” is the worst track on the album. A middling-tempo monstrosity of slop, these vulnerable lyrics are bafflingly set to a Yamaha keyboard’s “babies first” drum beat, paired with boring guitar work, again slathered with unnecessary backup vocals, and Evan is autotuned to hell and back! Seriously, listen to this track at about 3:12. You can hear him get pitch-shifted up a whole tone, not even in a subtle way, like a Kesha kind of way. And why? What kind of hamfisted producer would do that? This is an amazing, wonderful, delicate lyrics and melody, the purest expression of the album’s theme in this front-door confessional! Who would possibly get mad at a little bit of pitch inconsistency? It’s Turnpike! Authenticity is why we listen to the music in the first place! This song actually physically pained me. It’s completely unbelievable that the band took this amazing track into the studio and came out with this boring, overproduced, forgettable crap slathered in amateurish autotune. And the only problem with the original track, a weak ending bar, didn’t even get fixed – It’s the same as it was!
And that’s where my heart finally broke, because I had, even through two mediocre singles, held onto hope, because I knew at least the album namer was a great song. But no. It wasn’t. Not anymore.
The next track is also miserable. “Black Sky” sounds like Turnpike covering another band, but not in a transformative way, like a cover band kind of way. It’s boring and doesn’t convey the mood it wants to. What a shame.
The next three tracks are better. They all have pretty weird sounding vocals, especially “East Side Love Song,” but they’re a little more traditional country and country-rock sounds and so the production is a better fit for the music. The first one is a little too short and could do with another verse, the second one is a very standard big-production lap steel “Nashville Revival” style track and is pretty alright outside the, again, very muffled sounding vocals, and the final track is, again, decent and a pretty nice slow album-send off but is a little too long for its own good and just devolves into an unnecessary final full-band vocal refrain. That would be fine, except A. this is yet another very personal presentation, and B. every single song on this album has backing vocals! It just sounds like the same song as all the rest of it! I’d love this song as an album closer if every other song on the album hadn’t already done this sound.
And that’s the real tragedy here – it all just blends into the same song. It’s not any one element – there have been some Turnpike songs with really big backup vocals like “Something to Hold On To,” but these were big, powerful songs with full sounds, not every damn track on the album. Sure, you’d have harmonization vocal lines sometimes, but even on huge tracks like “The Bird Hunters” or “The Housefire” these were sparse, supportive, not overpowering – and never on delicate, vulnerable songs that don’t need it.
And don’t take this as me railing against a sound change, either! Bands can experiment, should experiment – but this album isn’t even a good experiment! You want to swap some of the instrumentation for a more typical conventional rock sound? Great, but actually do that! Give me some cymbals, interesting drum fills, bass lines, distorted guitars, god, a tempo over a hundred! Turnpike can rock the doors off a venue! “The Mercury,” “The Winding Stair Mountain Blues,” You want country rock? “Before The Devil Knows We’re Dead,” or how about “Quit While I’m Ahead?” Phenomenal, musically interesting tracks full of life and vigor. You want a Nashville sound? Go all the way, add some violins and orchestration, luxuriant production full of doubled and tripled guitars and lap steel. But all the production on this album has done is take away the accordions and harmonicas and drum fills for absolutely nothing but the blandest, crummiest rock-adjacent drivel I’ve ever heard.
And that’s why I’m so critical – because I love this amazing, one of a kind band like nothing else. It’s my favorite band. It will probably always be my favorite band. It’s intelligent, complex, compelling, beautiful, important music, and on this album it’s all been turned into this immensely uncompelling “whatever.” And it didn’t have to be this way. Anyone who says “Evan’s lost it” or “Evan can write without drinking” should be drawn and quartered because it’s just flatly untrue. Listen to those concert bootlegs. There’s gold here. The songs were great. Until they weren’t.
I’m seeing them again in Huntsville soon. I’ll always see them if they’re close. I just hope for their next album they don’t take the wrong lessons from this album so this ends just being a forgettable aside, not a warning of what’s to come.
Because I don’t know if my heart can take that.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:53 am
I see your point and I can only say, like the Village People did with their response to the Go West album, they created a minor masterpiece with Renaissance and its new wave beats and synthesizer explorations, eschewing all of the accoutrements of disco and rehashed pop sensibilities, immersing themselves in a Jungian morass which was perfectly counterbalanced by their attention to detail that was very obviously an extension of the strictures of Ayn Rand, this reflects the need of a band to grow, to blossom, extend, and contextually become a chrysalis which undergoes a metamorphosis, an expansion of self, and a protrusion.
August 25, 2023 @ 5:15 pm
To piggy back a bit off what Frank is saying and how it may relate to this new Turnpike Troubadours album, I agree that Renaissance was a bit of an artistic tour de force but if we are comparing Village People’s career arc to TT I would argue we are more in the Fox In The Box era and not the Rennasaince era. And we all know the follow up to FITB was Sex Over The Phone which was fine but left a bit to be desired especially with the senseless addition of Ray Stephens and his untimely passing the following year. And yes, the Macho Man/Goodbye Normal Street similarities are unmistakeable.
August 28, 2023 @ 9:02 am
Apropos of nothing, but are you the same Frank Bruno from the band Nothing Painted Blue?
August 25, 2023 @ 10:29 am
I agree with a lot of this.
With “Mean Old Sun” I was just happy to have new Turnpike. But when “Chipping Mill” released I started to get worried. This was it? This was the 2nd single released after a 5(?) year hiatus? “Brought Me” has grown on me.
I just finished listening to the whole thing. It is definitely their worst album. I did say in another post that I think “The Rut” is Top 5 Turnpike. Incredible song. But overall the album is a disappointment.
August 25, 2023 @ 10:39 am
Gonna fix a quick typo here because it looks bad, that should have said “Anyone who says … Evan CAN’T write without drinking,” not the opposite. Evan definitely can, did, and does, and I earnestly celebrate his recovery.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:01 am
I could not have said it better myself re: the album track. I have listened to the versions of “Cat in the Rain” Evan Felker played live at Red Rocks and in Houston over and over and over and over (weird/cute side note – I was pregnant then and my baby kicked for the first time while I was listening to the Red Rocks video). I LOVED the way he played it and how it was written – it was so soulful and personal and poetic and understated and impactful and reminded me a lot of Diamonds & Gasoline, but somehow even better. I have been counting down the seconds to hear it on the album. I was legitimately gutted this morning when I turned it on and heard the album version. What the heck? I wish it had been kept the way it was, the melody was so haunting and now its so forgettable.
August 25, 2023 @ 12:54 pm
This is why I always discourage people from spending too much time watching videos of songs before an album release, because your brain always latches on to the original version you’ve burned into it, and when a different one comes around, it’s always going to feel like a disappointment. This is why I do not do like Risky Whiff, and post breathless articles any time an artist debuts a new song. That performance is for that artist and that crowd to share live in that moment.
That’s not to say that the live version of “A Cat In The Rain” isn’t better. That’s a matter of opinion and I respect that. But chances are it didn’t matter what it sounded like, your brain was going to be disappointed.
August 25, 2023 @ 2:25 pm
I’m sure you’re right! Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!
August 25, 2023 @ 11:23 am
First, I’m not going to try and convince you that I read every word of this, but I did skim it pretty good.
I’m not hearing any Auto-tune on Evan Felker. This is an accusation folks throw out too fast and free these days, and something I’ve had my ears tuned to listen to for years. I could be wrong, but I think we have to be careful with that accusation.
I think this is a great album, but if I had a criticism, like I alluded in the review, it ends a bit soft. It feels like they had seven great songs, and then found three more at the end. I also think the two best songs are the first two, “Mean Old Sun” and “Brought Me,” and since we heard those songs already, it takes away a bit of the magic when you go to listen to the album in full.
I also think “The Rut” is a great song, and it sounds greater to some because it’s new and fresh, unlike “Mean Old Sun” or “Brought Me.”
Because of all this, to some “A Cat In The Rain” is going to start off soft, and end soft. I get it. But like I said, all Turnpike albums get better over time. I don’t even think we’ll know how we feel about this album until about two years from now at the earliest. Right now we’re just guessing.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:52 am
I feel like “Starts soft and ends soft” would not be a 8.4 for anyone else lol. 7/10. It’s got great writing where is does but it doesn’t touch the other albums for me. I do appreciate the more serious self reflection when it hits the best.
August 25, 2023 @ 12:50 pm
Steve,
My review is up above. This is a comment to someone who says they were disappointed in the album and I was trying to speak to their disappointment, and why that might be the case. It’s my opinion that this album starts off extremely strong, but since the first two songs have been out for a while, it may not engage you like if they were brand new like “The Rut.” I do agree it ends a little soft, and that is reflected in the review and in my score for the album.
August 25, 2023 @ 12:47 pm
Hello Trigger,
It’s something like 3000 words, I don’t expect anyone to have read all of it!
Autotune isn’t an accusation, it’s a … fact? Everyone in a studio uses Protools nowadays, because if your guitar is actually tuned to a 443 A then it’s much easier to tune it down a little bit than re-record it. That’s fine. Sometimes the singer will flub a glide in the middle of a great run. That’s fine. But just like any other production tool, it can be used skillfully or clumsily. I haven’t gotten out the spectrograms yet (although I beest tempted to) but, to my ear, the vocals on this one sound a little too clean – and, as I mentioned on my treatise on the tile track, there definitely seem to be some production flubs on the pitch correction. Some of that might be the vocal production style though, which feels a little claustrophobic with its different-feeling reverb (except Mean Old Sun, weirdly?) which might be hyper-focusing me on the vocals.
It’s also not a slight or insult against Evan or any of the other guys. Even if I thought post-production was “cheating” (I do not,) there’s lots of variables to consider. Bands get to choose how they play in the studio, but the rest of it can be out of their hands, especially if they’re touring at the same time. I’m not omniscient, so I don’t know what was happening in the production booth or how it got here.
I don’t hate the bones of the album. I love the band. I am really excited to hear some of these songs live, especially “Lucille” if we get lucky on a setlist. I will continue to throw American Pesos at this band. Like the rest of the catalog, we’ve got weeks and months and years to chew on it. But to me, the Jennings style of production already feels dated – and I worry this album might end up more like Rainbow Stripe; slightly synthetic, pleasant flavor at first, but ya just end up chewing on mush.
August 25, 2023 @ 2:33 pm
Maybe you’re just part of the beauty of SCM but damn you should have a blog where you post this analysis.
August 25, 2023 @ 2:44 pm
I’ve explained this many times in the past myself. Autotune was originally employed to fix a sour note on an otherwise good vocal run, and when utilized in that capacity, there is nothing wrong with it, any more than moving a snare crack to the right or left to get it in time. Subsequently, some artists and studios basically use it as a audio filter to pitch correct everything.
I understand this. I’m not saying that some AutoTune wasn’t employed at some point. Do I hear AutoTune on Evan Felker’s vocals? Absolutely not. Is this an AutoTune album? No.
August 26, 2023 @ 6:39 am
If it is used, it’s not noticeable to the listener in my opinion. George Strait Cowboy Rides Way live album it is not.
August 29, 2023 @ 1:43 pm
My drummer says, “No! Move everything else to match the snare crack.”
August 30, 2023 @ 6:38 am
Isn’t micro-timing what is supposed to make great human drummers better than mediocre drummers or a drum machine? I am no expert in it but I think I may be against any use of auto-tune.
I’m also not a real musician but I say if you want to sound better, be better! If everybody is made great by technology then who is really great?
Would most people be interested is watching motorsports where every vehicle is equipped the traction and stability control?
August 25, 2023 @ 11:32 am
I appreciate that your criticism is well thought-out (though it may benefit from being laid out more concisely).
I agree with some of it, but also agree with Trigger that these songs are likely ones that grow on us over the coming months and years.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:55 am
Brother, I just wanted to drop in the replies to tell you that I am a major fan of your
A. Musical autism
B. Adderall intake
C. Both
Either way, kudos. Godspeed, Sir!
August 25, 2023 @ 1:13 pm
I try my best. It’s more A than B. I was a mu-degenerate for many years until I realized I could enjoy music people actually listened too. That being said, I learned two important things – one, that good music can come from anywhere, and the best way to not become trope-blind is to listen to a wide variety of music, and two, that new albums deserve really intentional, dedicated listening, just HD-sixhundos on, dark room, notepad in hand. It’s amazing how complex one’s thoughts on an album can be if you really make your self think about them. And in a world in which access to new music is so easy, I think it’s more important than ever to really evaluate what you’ze listening too.
August 25, 2023 @ 2:40 pm
Vocal tuning tools are used by every skilled producer on recordings these days regardless of what anyone says, it’s just part of the process. Had it been available in the past, it would have been utilized then, as well. Mostly it’s a tool that is used sparingly (unless you’re an artist who has pitch issues, and many do). Standard tuning is A440. I haven’t run into many who use 443m but there are those who swear by it.
August 25, 2023 @ 5:32 pm
Well, it sounds good while riding around on my lawn mower this evening!! Continuous backup vocals with the whirring of dull blades.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:33 pm
Thank you. My deal is, I just feel like the band is buried and underutilized in the production. Could Engelman possibly be happy with these guitar parts? It sounds like Evan and the session players. Great songwriting though.
August 25, 2023 @ 10:01 pm
What you’re saying is how i felt about the release of A Long Way Through Your Heart. Releases were Housefire, Old Time Feeling, and Pipe Bomb Dream prior to album release if memory serves. When the album released i felt it did not measure. Its since grown on me and Pay No Rent is nothing short of songwriter magic. This album has flaws. 7 original works, 2 covers, 1 rehash. I wished for two more up beat jammers….the “We Are Back!” Tracks. I didn’t get them and thats ok. This album is an allegory for TT’s fall, redemption, and acknowledgement of what transpired. In that context, its a winner with a few great tracks. The Shooter debate is Potayto Potahto. I get everything you said until the Cat in the Rain critique. Infinitely better as a band track. Beautiful song and a nod to the Hemingway short story while keeping very much on theme. It’s beautiful. A failure? Laughable. Even if its the worst TT album it is still bettrr than 99% of all albums released by any artist since their last. Nobody ever likes a bands later albums even though they are always the most musically mature and polished.
August 25, 2023 @ 10:14 pm
Bro if you’re gonna write such a long winded review make your own website. Until then don’t be such a wannabe Trigger. If it takes that many words to write off an album it can’t be that bad
August 28, 2023 @ 1:29 am
I´m with you. So far I am underwhelmed and a bit disappointed. And it is not Shooter Jennings`production – it is the songwriting. For Turnpike standards it is astonishingly dull and unremarkable (which is still fara bove the crowd, but we are all spoiled). Most of the songs sound more or less the same.
I hope it will grow on me. If not, I just keep on listening to the other albums, because they are fantastic.
August 28, 2023 @ 11:48 am
I was really excited for this as well. I put it on today and it was just a flat line for me. Their early stuff was so much more compelling, great hooks etc. Maybe the regrouped creative engine is still warming up?
August 29, 2023 @ 1:49 pm
I think the warming engine metaphor is apt. I expect another album in about 18 months that raises the roof.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:20 am
Listened to the whole album this morning. This is the good stuff!
August 25, 2023 @ 9:22 am
I don’t feel that one decimal place is enough to really capture how you feel about the album. 8.4 of 10 really only gets within 1/100 description. What about adding a decimal place so we know if you’re talking 8.38 or 8.42? Gogel
August 25, 2023 @ 9:23 am
Nice review, Trigger. What’s the story on Sturgill potentially producing this album? I couldn’t find anything… thanks.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:46 am
I don’t know the full story and I don’t want to act like I do. I also didn’t report this previously because I didn’t want it to come across as gossipy or something. But my understanding is that Sturgill was supposed to be the producer for this album. Sturgill and the band had some time sectioned off to do it, but Sturgill may have only had a small window when he either could, or he just only wanted to give it a small window because that’s how he believes albums should be recorded. Either way, it didn’t work out and they went with Shooter. This probably is some of the reason for the delay in this release after their return. Evan has also said they went back into the studio with Shooter at some point after the initial recording sessions to work on stuff some more.
I might reach out and see if I can get more of the story at some point now that the album is released, but I didn’t want people taking the wrong impression from the info, so I kept it close to the vest.
August 25, 2023 @ 8:03 pm
I’d definitely be interested to see more of that story if you do get more info, Trigger.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:50 am
Also super curious about this. I love this new album, *and* I also LOVE everything Sturgill touches. Now I’m imagining – what could have been?!
August 25, 2023 @ 9:24 am
Just purchased and ready for a good listen!
Can we also give a HUGE shoutout to Turnpike Troubadours for keeping the price to download at $7.99! In this day and age, that’s a great price for a brand new album. Reminds of the old “Nice Price” records from years ago. Thats a nice way to keep your fans happy!
August 25, 2023 @ 11:54 am
I mean, it’s 10 songs. Zach’s is 16 and the same price.
August 27, 2023 @ 8:24 am
Still a great price. And Zach’s includes a poem and a song recorded on iPhone notes fwiw.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:30 am
Great article. I definitely felt the need to get this record on vinyl. Just seems like an important moment.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:41 am
There’s simply nobody doing it like these guys. I think “The Rut” immediately registers among the great Turnpike songs. It won’t supplant “The Bird Hunters” at a show’s apex, but it’s chillingly determined and assuring chorus may feature the most galvanizing lyrics Felker has penned. Bravo
August 25, 2023 @ 10:15 am
Platte,
You beat me to it. The Rut! Yes, we need more hunting songs, bring it I say. (A Country Boy Can Survive, Fred Bear, Backwoods Boy and a couple others on my list) As for TT, agree that The Bird Hunters is a masterpiece. Felker likes hunting imagery as analysis for his struggles in life. Did you catch that line about liquor in The Rut? ( hard to miss that, definitely autobiographical)
I like the little details in the song like the reference to a pack mule and leveling out the panniers. Out here in the Midwest we hunt a bit differently, not doing pack trips, more like sitting in tree stands in camo in the cold, but we get it done. ( or a modified gazebo as a blind, in my case!)
I’m no TT superfan like most here, far from it, but I do like what these guys do, and I’m adding The Rut to my permanent Playlist. Good stuff!!!
August 25, 2023 @ 11:11 am
If you need a few more hunting songs:
South Texas Tradition by John Baumann
Errol’s Song by Adam Caroll
Both are more song-writery than The Nuge or Bocephus but solid nonetheless.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:26 am
Also, The Rut isn’t the first song involving elk hunting and Evan Felker. Unless there’s another one, that honor goes to Corb Lund with 90 Seconds of Your Time.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/corb-lunds-new-song-is-about-a-hunting-trip-with-evan-felker/
August 25, 2023 @ 12:21 pm
Good stuff KC, I had forgotten that Corb Lund song. Yes, good hunting songs are hard to find. In fact, they are a rarity. Hmmm…could be a lucrative country sub- genre to start!
August 25, 2023 @ 5:31 pm
Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, and Michael Waddell did a whole hunting album called “the bone collector”. Always been a huge Rhett fan. Do I listen to it often? No. Songs here and there. But when I’m thinking about hunting or getting ready for that season it’s what I listen to.
August 26, 2023 @ 2:08 am
it’s strange you don’t get cancelled nowdays for singing about hunting….try that in a euro town!
August 25, 2023 @ 9:53 am
August 25, 1975 . Bruce Springsteen releases Born to Run
48 years later , Turnpike releases a new album after we thought we’d never get it . And it’s got some bangers .
Let’s find joy in that.
The dawn is yet to dry the dew
Off my Sunday clothes
August 25, 2023 @ 10:06 am
No shit? Same day huh. Oh that’s awesome. I spent my 20’s and 30’s with Bruce. My 40’s trying to find anything else worth it. And now my 50’s immersed in Turnpike so this comment hit me right between the eyes
August 25, 2023 @ 2:08 pm
My only 2 concerts in 2023. Springsteen in St. Paul this past March, TT December 16th in Peoria IL.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:54 am
I agree with Frankie here, with less vitriol and in far fewer words – something about this record just feels “off.” I think for me it’s the over-produced vocals, and those backup vocals on all the choruses are a big turn-off for me. The songs are all good, and it’s definitely a Turnpike record. They can obviously still make amazing music. They’ve still “got it.” But nothing here grabs me the way “The Birdhunters” or “Every Girl” did, and still do every time I play those records (for the thousandth time.) And it did start to feel a little boring toward the end. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad record, but it is definitely my least favorite of their material so far. (And that’s not truly a hard criticism, considering all of their previous albums in my opinion are essentially perfect.) I’m glad they’re maturing and finding such success, individually in their own lives and as a band. I wish them the absolute best, as they were the band that got me into independent country in the first place – like so many, they were my “gateway drug”, and they’ll always be among my favorite country bands. I’m just not super keen on some of the production decisions here or the way their sound is moving. But, I’m just one person. I’m glad so many are loving the record, and that it’s living up to expectations. I enjoyed it too, I just couldn’t help as I listened feeling a bit disappointed.
August 28, 2023 @ 8:03 am
Great comment
Sums up my feelings toward the album but I’m going to give it a few more listens this week.
Thanks for another review. This is the best music site I’ve ever found.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:59 am
I think Shooter does a really good job and I am glad that Sturgill didn’t produce (he has never impressed me and I have always felt his music is over rated). It is saving country that got me into this group and I had high expectations of this album. It meets them! Great album. Maybe, their best yet?
August 25, 2023 @ 10:09 am
Go listen to Posey Hill and then thank Trig!
August 25, 2023 @ 10:13 am
This album is really good. First listen and Cat in The Rain grabbed me. Especially the Sven he set at the ending. Anyone from the gulf coast area like me has to be captivated by it. The Rut is a great song as is Lucille. I do think mean old sun and brought me are the standouts and possibly dampened the excitement of the release. If we were just now hearing them with the rest of the album I think some would feel different.
As far as the production goes I see no faults. It sounds great to me. Not sure what all the whiners in the Facebook group are going on about. They’re a strange lot.
August 27, 2023 @ 6:18 am
Read every word. Why? Because I agree with what you are saying. The Backup vocal harmonies have been over “engineered” IMO. It’s too much sugar on that pie and the backups absolutely crush/overpower the other instruments. The thing I love about prior Turnpike is every instrument is blasting at equal strength in your face and then when the guitar plays off the fiddle, or the fiddle plays off the steel, etc., it makes for a beautiful “Shit Kickin Orchestra”. Not hearing a lot of that. Steel has replaced a lot of the fiddle. Hell is Kyle Nix even in the band. His fiddle is either buried or drowned out by the harmony vocals. I don’t believe the album is terrible but it is disappointment . I am glad Evan can find some cathartic release through these songs and I look forward to getting over this little bump in the road
August 25, 2023 @ 10:16 am
People are overrating “The Rut.”
Their first album, Bossier City, is superior to this album.
Shooter Jennings was the wrong choice for the producer.
Outside of “Bottoms Up,” all the good songs were already released.
August 25, 2023 @ 5:19 pm
“Outside of “Bottoms Up,” all the good songs were already released.”
I get that that matters for your initial listening, but does that really matter? It’s nice to be part of the moment of release, but in a few years it won’t matter that their best singles were released in advance. Idk, I guess it’s the difference of perspective when reviewing an album
August 25, 2023 @ 10:17 am
Still working my way through it, but The Rut is Top 5 all time Turnpike songs.
It is a little more subdued than previous efforts, which is unexpected and a little disappointing. There really haven’t been any “bangers” like on previous albums: Winding Stair Mountain Blues, Bird Hunters, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, or 7&7, just to name a few. I guess Mean Old Sun is close, but still doesn’t have the same energy as the others.
August 25, 2023 @ 10:20 am
Needed more up-tempo and bangers.
It wasn’t worth the wait of six years.
And it hurts like hell to say that but life is nothing but disappointment.
August 26, 2023 @ 4:52 pm
get some help bud.
August 30, 2023 @ 8:24 pm
Does your limited mind think I am sad?
Not at all. I am satisfied. I understand how the world ends. Enlightenment brings contentment.
August 30, 2023 @ 8:51 pm
lol
August 25, 2023 @ 10:26 am
Best part of this album as I’m halfway through are the harmonies. This feels like a first for them, or at least more prominent than usual, and they’re really good.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:24 am
Shooter has been putting out a long list of good, if not great, albums.
Impossible not to wonder what sturgil produced album would sound like, but I’m grateful that they left room to breathe in this album. The inner notes on Lucille from the pedal steel is hauntingly perfect. So easy to neglect those spaces, but they let them breathe beautifully.
From Jamie Wyatt to Kelsey waldon, American aquarium, and even yelawolf, shooter Jennings has helped put a lot of great music in our ears.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:31 am
1) kick Shooter Jennings straight in the nuts. He’s just not that good and shouldn’t be producing albums
2) while it’s not the worst album ever, it’s definitely the least of their discography and definitely falls flat.
3) Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 5 years because this album leaves a lot to be desired.
That being said there still my favorite band and all good bands deserve the benefit of the doubt. They had a lot to live up too and high expectations.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:33 am
I like this album, but I echo a lot of the criticisms above.
Shooter fumbled this opportunity pretty badly, IMO. The mix is just dreadful compared to the back catalog. Why are the vocals so far up, and Kyle Nix’s fiddle down on every god damned song? I started getting worried after “Brought Me” dropped and I realized he cut the song the exact same as Kelsey Waldon’s “Backwater Blues” last year.
Though they are just playing the singles right now, rest assured it all sounds much better live, as Nix’s fiddle rips through in the tracks, as it should.
I’ll know every word to every song by the end of this month, but I will never stop thinking about what could have been if Stu and Ferg were in the booth instead.
August 25, 2023 @ 10:59 pm
I largely agree. I like the album but my number one critique is that they never turned Kyle loose on that fiddle as much as the old ones. He’s their sonic signature to me.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:36 am
Wes Sharon doesn’t get enough credit for helping Turnpike with their sound. Thank you so much for giving him a well deserved shout out.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:37 am
Just listened to it all the way through. Now I haven’t been a fan of them before, never listened to much but I did here. The only two songs I don’t like at all is Lucille and The rut. I know lots of people are praising The rut but I just feel it’s too slow for my taste. The songs that really stand out to me are brought me, cat in the rain, black sky and bottoms up. The rest are ok, typical stuff you find on an album. Overall it’s think it’s a good album. Does it instantly turn me into a big fan, no. I’m not going to start thinking they are up there with Alan Jackson, Merle haggard, etc or if you want to go by bands, nitty gritty diet band or Blackhawk. But they are good enough I will listen to some of these and wait for some new stuff
August 26, 2023 @ 4:27 am
The most outrageous thing in this comment is you mentioned Alan Jackson as being up there with Merle Haggard. Not even close my friend!
August 26, 2023 @ 2:27 pm
Well he is to me so that’s all that needs said. In fact if I had to parse it, I would put Alan just ahead of him but I don’t usually parse the top tier people when it comes to these things be it music, movies, or sports. It all comes down to he said/she said
August 30, 2023 @ 8:25 pm
Alan is up there.
Deal with it.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:40 am
This felt more like an Evan Felker singer-songwriter album than a Turnpike Troubadours album. That could be because the biggest songs were released as pre-album singles and front loaded in the order of play. Still though, the sound may be a bit too stripped down here.
I think this album would have worked better had they not been coming off a 6-year hiatus from their last album. But given that they were, I think it was fair to hope for a few more hits (for lack of a better word).
I also agree with Trig that many of the songs here will age well over the years. And given that this album almost never happened, we should be a bit more grateful for it.
August 25, 2023 @ 11:51 am
Well after the third time through it I am totally enthralled with every song. It’s been well worth waiting for. My only thing is was anybody else hoping there would be a new “Lorri” song to continue the story or has that ship sailed?
August 25, 2023 @ 12:06 pm
I love how the cover art recalls Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road.
August 25, 2023 @ 12:21 pm
Alright, I’ve done three laps on this album today. It’s a Turnpike album, but it’s a very chilled out version of Turnpike. Which is not a bad thing. They’ve gotten older. They’ve matured. They’re likely not full of piss and vinegar like they were 10 years ago or even 5 years ago. I personally love it, but in a different way than I love the other albums. They’ve evolved, and we as fans have to evolve with them, or find the next hot band that’s on the rise. I’m not a music production expert and have never claimed to be. But what I am is glad that my favorite band is making music again. And all of us fans have to be thankful for that.
August 25, 2023 @ 12:49 pm
I think this is exactly how I feel (as I finish my 3rd lap as well). I’ve chilled out since the first time I saw them in a dive bar 10 years ago, too. 🙂 I don’t know that any of these songs instantly grabbed me by the throat like some have in the past, and none are threatening to unseat Every Girl in my top 5 of all time, but it’s a pretty solid, steady album and there are a lot more listens ahead of me without a lot of skips.
I don’t know if anyone else is picking up on this, but there are a bunch of little lyrical and melodic snippets that keep tickling my brain as echoes of past songs of theirs but I haven’t figured out all the connections yet.
August 25, 2023 @ 1:48 pm
Where did you hear that Sturgill was originally supposed to produce the album, but ultimately did not because Turnpike did not want to comply with his parameters? Haven’t seen this before just curious
August 25, 2023 @ 2:15 pm
Reposted from above:
I don’t know the full story and I don’t want to act like I do. I also didn’t report this previously because I didn’t want it to come across as gossipy or something. But my understanding is that Sturgill was supposed to be the producer for this album. Sturgill and the band had some time sectioned off to do it, but Sturgill may have only had a small window when he either could, or he just only wanted to give it a small window because that’s how he believes albums should be recorded. Either way, it didn’t work out and they went with Shooter. This probably is some of the reason for the delay in this release after their return. Evan has also said they went back into the studio with Shooter at some point after the initial recording sessions to work on stuff some more.
I might reach out and see if I can get more of the story at some point now that the album is released, but I didn’t want people taking the wrong impression from the info, so I kept it close to the vest.
August 25, 2023 @ 1:59 pm
Like what seems to be the opinion of majority of fans, I love some songs and think others will grow on me. Yeah of course we wanted the single greatest comeback album of all time, but this is a solid effort, even if it’s not probably in the Turnpike top 3.
I think the performance of a star athlete who comes back mid-season from a long injury rehab is a solid analogy for this band right now. You can’t really judge and/ or reassess where their career or influence is at in their first outings. It’s gonna be next album/ season that we see if these guys are going to continue to be hall of famers, or just a really good band that made some truly great records. What matters most is that they’re doing well, still playing, and still writing.
August 25, 2023 @ 2:05 pm
My least favorite probably of the Turnpike albums. However, it’s kind of like your kids (if you have multiple): you can rank them on any given day as to which one you like the most and which one you like the least. But at the end of the day, you still love them all compared to anyone else’s kid…
August 25, 2023 @ 2:11 pm
I don’t think it was ever possible for this album to come out of the gate and hit us all just like the old stuff. We’ve had time to peel back pretty much every layer of every song and, with the hiatus, they became like nostalgic memories of a better time.
I don’t know for sure if these songs will ever feel like the old ones but the songwriting and musicianship is definitely still there. Overall, I’m very happy with this album. The more I listen to it the more I like it.
“Brought Me” is the standout.
August 25, 2023 @ 2:45 pm
Good album with some genuinely great songs and zero bad ones. Brought Me, A Cat in the Rain, The Rut are fabulously written songs. Don’t hate the production like some – thought each of the very accomplished band members had moments to shine, and it sounds warm in a good way. I even kinda like the harmonies, though I think they beat that horse to death by the end of the album. There were some… interesting… creative choices though. I don’t know that I would have sped up *both* Bottoms Up and A Cat in the Rain, and I’d sadly argue that both of the covers were a little too slight – the originals pack a stronger punch.
I think the rollout strategy isn’t doing them any favors in the mixed reception it seems to be getting. It was possible to hear versions of 7 of 10 songs before release day, so for die hards there was very little new content.
All that said… the best part is that they’re back! I have a feeling their best work is yet to come. If this is just the beginning of the second act I’m happy with it.
August 25, 2023 @ 2:16 pm
I was hoping so badly that we could get some artistic nuance or variability with the guitar on this album. There does not seem to have been any growth or desire for maturity in that department. I am not looking for some fancy solo, but Grant Siemons on lead or rhythm, for example, would be able to give each track a breath of individual personality and beauty that we are just not seeing. The steel guitar was a bit of a savior, but nowhere near enough.
August 25, 2023 @ 2:33 pm
Tanya Tucker, HBG, and now Turnpike. Shooter’s really been killing it when it comes to producing great albums for artists who we thought at one point or another might not be giving us new music again.
Couple that with the great, and in some cases award winning, work he’s done with other folks like Carlile, Manson, Wyatt, American Aquarium, Avi Kaplan, White Buffalo, and even Billy Ray Cyrus. He seems more than content to stick to do feature appearances, and producing, but I sure hope we still get some solo stuff from him again but if his production work remains this good, I cant really complain.
August 25, 2023 @ 3:05 pm
It’s hard to say how I feel about this album. I have been looking forward to it since the band got back together, but ranking wise, it currently sits around the same place Goodbye Normal Street which is my least favourite of the pre-hitaus albums.
That might change, this is just gut reaction after 3 or so plays.
Now I just gotta hope that make it over to do some shows in the UK.
August 25, 2023 @ 3:08 pm
Apologies if this is a stupid question, but how is it decided which albums get a guns up rating?
August 25, 2023 @ 3:12 pm
Remind me why is Diamonds & Gasoline their debut album and not Bossier City?
August 30, 2023 @ 8:27 pm
Most of the band wasn’t assembled yet and it lacked a fiddle.
I enjoy the first album. “Three Rivers Song” is one of their best songs. I wish they would re-record more of the album.
August 31, 2023 @ 12:45 pm
Thanks. It’s a fun album.
August 25, 2023 @ 3:13 pm
Seems a few missed “Won’t You Give Me One More Chance.” So good. Bigger picture: Haven’t you all learned? TT are a fantastic band, still the full albums need time to soak in and take hold. That’s not a slight at all. It’s true of many of the greatest bands of all time. Stick with it and you KNOW every song on this album will find a way to sink into your bones. Just feel the Felker. Resistance is futile.
August 25, 2023 @ 3:21 pm
Just heard Mojo Nixon say that Turnpike will be in studio with him Friday night (Aug. 25) at 6 Central on XM channel 62 Outlaw Country. If you miss it, those shows can usually be pulled up and streamed on the XM app.
August 25, 2023 @ 4:32 pm
main takeaway from the record was hell yeah turnpike is back. and you’re dead right when you say Turnpike songs get better with time – one of my buddies played Kansas City Southern this weekend after 15 miller lites and i was like fuckin hell this shit slaps harder than ever.
However – I think this album is a little flat for me! there is a “sameness” throughout most all the songs – everything kinda blended together. Plus I totally agreed when you described the writing style as “obtuse” – half the songs i couldn’t tell what the hell were about. It was sorta like reading a Kerouac deep cut – flowing, poetic writing that sounds cool and then I think wait what the hell was he even talking about. This is a big change from early Turnpike classics where there is usually a clear story/sentiment to follow. I don’t see the production gripes though. Sounded just like a Turnpike Troubadours record to me, which is a good thing. Idk i’m just stoked the boys are back and i’m sure this record will grow on me, but not blown away as of now.
Shoutout to the guy who left the insanely long comment above. you rule dude.
Jeremy Pinnell rips especially his last album “goodbye LA” which rips so hard
August 29, 2023 @ 4:41 pm
KCS is THE slapper. always gets the campfire jumping.
August 25, 2023 @ 4:42 pm
Maybe I am different than some others, but I am glad this Turnpike doesn’t sound like old Turnpike. I am not the same person I was when I 1st hear them, and they aren’t the same band. I have had my struggles with the drink, have settled down, and now have a beautiful daughter. I don’t want the old Turnpike, I want this Turnpike. I love the album and every time it turns over and starts again, each song gets better. Just my 2 cents.
August 25, 2023 @ 7:28 pm
I would say overall the reception on the album has been positive. As is often the case, the loudest, most negative voices get the most attention. I honestly don’t hear any significant change in the sound between this Turnpike album and any other, except for the addition of more backing vocals, which I think it’s strange people would find objectionable. It’s not like they added a horn section and synthesizers, or switched genres. It’s still the same guys with the same basic approach, and the same guitar tones. I think some of the people complaining about it now will be singing like a fan girl to “Brought Me” and “The Rut” in concert, and will be telling people they’re their favorite songs. Turnpike has never been about party songs. They give you something to unravel. 3 or 4 of these songs I still don’t know what they’re about right now.
August 25, 2023 @ 4:58 pm
Trig – it was kinda low to hint that Cat in the Rain might have been written about someone whose name I will not mention.
August 25, 2023 @ 5:10 pm
Perhaps it’s not.
August 25, 2023 @ 5:14 pm
why even suggest it?
August 25, 2023 @ 6:46 pm
If someone wants to tell me what “A Cat In The Rain” is about specifically, I am all ears. I wrote the lyrics out on a piece of paper to try and determine that myself and came to no hard conclusions. In many respects that’s the beauty of the song. I do know the 3rd and 4th verse reference the Texas coast where Felker went after Turnpike and his marriage imploded, and the 1st and 2nd seem to speak to some sort of interaction with a love interest, or some sort of tryst. But really, I don’t know.
Either way, I don’t think it’s “low” to wonder. This is what a good song does. It intrigues you, it means different things to different people, and it stimulates discussion.
August 25, 2023 @ 7:40 pm
I wonder if the short story had any influence at all.
August 26, 2023 @ 7:43 am
Hey Trig, so I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this and my best guess/interpretation is that the first verse is him first reuniting with his wife after everything that had happened and the rest of the song is him reflecting on what brought him to that moment. The confusing nature of the lyrics to me are supposed the jumbled nature of his mind due to the alcohol.
The deciding factors of why I’m going with this is because his wife has brown eyes while that other woman does not and prodigal son line appears to reflect contrition while the rest of the song seems to allude to the events during his spiral/journey to sobriety.
August 26, 2023 @ 12:42 pm
I think you’re probably right. What we know for sure is that “Mean Old Sun” and “A Cat In The Rain” are about the disillusion and eventual resolution of Evan Felker’s marriage, and this very much sets the arc of the album.
The four verses of “A Cat In The Rain” may be out of chronological order, with the first verse being the last in time, or the resolution, and the 3rd and 4th being how Evan got there.
The verse that immediately made me think of she who shall not be named was verse 2. I’m not trying to be salacious or something. Everybody knows the story, and Ran Ran is part of it. It seems to me Verse 2 is about her, but I don’t know because I didn’t write the song. I don’t think it’s “low” for wondering.
This speaks to what I alluded to in the opening paragraph of the review. Turnpike has some of the greatest fans, but the fan base is extremely gossipy. Everybody talks in private. But if you say something publicly, everybody rises to shame you for gossiping. In this case, I’m just trying to explain the potential inspiration for the song.
August 26, 2023 @ 1:11 pm
Completely agree with you. The fanbase gets very “holier than thou.” I actually went back and removed the names in my comment before I sent.
I also think you’re right and justified to bring it up when trying to interpret this song. I think it’s necessary. My reading of the lyrics is that it is his wife in the first verse and the other woman in than the second verse. Depending on how you read the second verse, it may flip from him laying in bed with his wife to thinking back to that tryst.
August 27, 2023 @ 4:14 pm
It’s not low to wonder, it’s fun to wonder. Lots of turnpike fans seem to forget Evan was just as responsible in this situation as Miranda. And In hindsight that was exactly what he needed to get his shit together.
August 25, 2023 @ 6:59 pm
Would be a great EP. Other than that it lacks fire. Plenty of yawns with the throw away tracks. I hope they surprise us with a real album by next spring.
Maybe they should listen to Lucero and remember how to grab fans by balls after 20 years in the game.
Another album that somehow rates above Lucero’s release earlier this year. WTF?
I absolutely know I am not wrong about this.
August 25, 2023 @ 9:25 pm
In an interview, I think American songwriter? Evan said he wrote the songs in two sessions, do we know what those songs were in each session?
August 25, 2023 @ 11:16 pm
I really liked the album, the only song I didn’t really like was “Chipping Mill”. However my one critique is they never really turned Kyle loose on the fiddle like on the old ones; he is their sonic signature to me.
I worked hard to manage expectations on this one. One thing we do as fans is here a great album, decide that whoever made it is the future, and then get frustrated that lightning didn’t strike twice. The reality is an artist will almost always only have one Southeastern, Purgatory, Traveler, or Metamodern Sounds in Country Music in them. In this case Turnpike was the exception because they were able to follow Diamonds and Gasoline with Goodbye Normal Street, which is almost inconceivable. They just aren’t going to put out 25 songs that good in a three-year period again. Just give me more quality songs to add to the depth chart and I will be pleased.
August 26, 2023 @ 5:09 am
On my first listen, I almost came here and commented that the album was a bit of a let down.
A couple listens later, and it’s already grown on me. It’s great.
The only negative observation here is that there isnt a single one song that rivals the heights of Good Lord Lorrie, The Bird Hunters, 7&7, etc.
But that’s ok. Those sort of transcendental songs dont come often and it’s already absurd how many of them Turnpike has. Most bands don’t even have one. Evan Feller has dug his own hole by being, in my opinion, the greatest country songwriter of our generation. He’s already written enough era defining songs for a whole career.
The entirety of Cat in the Rain is solid, beyond solid really. Great hooks and great writing. I’m sure plenty of these songs will end up being concert staples and become just as great a part of the catalogue
August 26, 2023 @ 5:52 am
A lot of comments here already. Glad most are positive. Had an appointment yesterday and didn’t get listen to this until yesterday evening, but thought I’d throw a few late comments anyway.
Have to say I’m happy with this album. Also happy I restrained myself from over listening to the singles to get the album experience. When a band goes through a layoff, or even when a band is reaching that veteran act stage of multiple albums, you always wonder if the next one will live up to your expectations. Don’t know where A Cat In The Rain will end up in pecking order of the Turnpike Troubadours discography, but producer Shooter Jennings and the band accomplished making this sound like a Turnpike Troubadours album. That’s a good thing.
Overall I’m really liking this album so far. Don’t think there is a bad song on it. The title track and Three More Days, a kind of early 2000’s Texas Country throwback that you might of heard guys like Randy Rogers or Wade Bowen play back in the day, stick out to me right now. A Cat In The Rain is an excellent addition to the Turnpike lineup.
August 26, 2023 @ 6:52 am
There’s a lot here. Tonight, in Camdenton it seemed like they were having fun again. That’s not what I got from the last show I saw almost directly after reunification. I felt a healthy mix of energy reminiscent of the 2010-11 era of something to prove and +/- 2019 “we’ve arrived” feel.
Regardless of any perception that allows the listener to think about the soggy Cheeto melding of everything cliche, normal, or disappointing on the new album, live all the new songs were sonically unique and had their own signature. There was a different feel to the 3 songs they played from Cat In The Rain. An evolution maybe?
Trigger, I remember your critique of the troubadours on an earlier album that they had more to go, you expected more, or weren’t there yet. I’d take the line theyre there now, or are again.
August 26, 2023 @ 7:05 am
I would be lying if I said I was super blown away by any Turnpike Troubadours album when I first listened. I thought “Diamonds & Gasoline” was fine, but it felt like a semi generic rock-infused country album to me that I didn’t expect to grow in stature to where it is today. I’ve learned over time that time is very kind to the music of the Turnpike Troubadours, and first or even second and third impressions don’t really matter. I have no doubt that songs like “Brought Me” and “The Rut” will become legendary in concert in the coming years, and by extension, this whole album. Maybe expectations were a little too high for some people, but this album is solid.
August 28, 2023 @ 4:05 pm
Trigger,
Agreed with your point about time and aging playing a factor. With all that being said, how would you rank/rate their albums today (not counting Cat in the Rain or Bossier City) from “best to worst” or, what kind of numerical rating would you give each album? If you’re like me, “worst” is by no means a slight when it comes to Turnpike. I know you’ve given reviews on their albums in the past so just generally curious your thoughts from a retrospective review standpoint.
August 29, 2023 @ 3:57 pm
My head hurts thinking about ranking the Turnpike albums this way. What I can do is refer you to my list of the best albums from the last decade where all the previous Turnpike albums appear. I’m not sure where “A Cat In The Rain” would sit on such a list. Get back with me in a year or two.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/the-greatest-country-albums-of-the-decade-2010-2019/
August 26, 2023 @ 7:33 am
Boring mid tempo unenthusiastic reject songs. Like these are turnpike troubadours songs but they’re the ones they would’ve rejected. These are like b-sides from the good albums. They’re boring. And the lyrics are so trite just a bunch of cliches and rips on classic country sounding things to say. Like are you really talking about a canteen right now?! I know that seems random but that line stood out as so stupid to me. Whatever I love the band but man this just isn’t outside of ordinary in any way.
August 26, 2023 @ 7:36 am
Two and a half listens and it’s definitely growing on me. I think expectations were so high this one given the circumstances and I almost expected to be underwhelmed at first. Had similar feelings about “The Turnpike Troubadours” album (well, except for The Bird Hunters). It followed two albums that I was absolutely over the moon about and that I would say are in my top ten list for the 2010’s. But I came around and went from liking it to loving it.
August 26, 2023 @ 8:40 am
I know I’m commenting late, but I finally had a chance to listen to this album a couple of times. I’ve appreciated their music over the years, but I’ve never been what one would call a big fan. With that said, this album is great. It might be my favorite of theirs. I don’t have a favorite song on the album yet, I like them all.
August 26, 2023 @ 11:31 am
It’s not a bad album but it’s not a great album either. I’ve only given it one listen so far, so this is simply my first impression. The entire album feels like a long winded, drawn-out apology. The tunes and lyrics all feel recycled but rearranged. Nothing about it feels passionate or truly genuine. Definitely not original from a Turnpike standard. I will give it several more listen throughs before my mind is made up, but for a first impression it was very lackluster and forgettable compared to their other albums.
August 26, 2023 @ 12:54 pm
I’ve listened to it several times through now. A lot of times, I associate music with seasons or specific times of year. With the days getting shorter, this one is going to perfect to listen to on a cool Autumn night.
August 26, 2023 @ 2:03 pm
“We were victims of eternal love for almost half a morning
Said I know you can’t go home again, but tell me where you land”
This is clearly Evan and Miranda Lambert
August 26, 2023 @ 2:06 pm
That was the first thing that came into my head.
August 27, 2023 @ 3:30 pm
Calling himself a ghost also… when she titled that whole song after him lols
August 28, 2023 @ 8:14 am
*Titled that whole song after him
Please explain this. First I’ve heard this
August 26, 2023 @ 2:38 pm
My main gripe is that I feel short-changed on Felker-penned songs. Obviously it’s the artist’s choice on how much pain/experience/etc. to share with the audience but I was expecting a borderline magnum opus from Evan. To have what, half the record be songs he wrote just feels underwhelming.
August 26, 2023 @ 4:59 pm
I guess no one else is going to flat out say it, but this album sucks. The lyrics are horrible. Plenty of cliches and no real imagery like the writing in the past. “Ran my heart through a chippin’ mill, sold my soul to rock and roll?” Who keeps turpentine in a canteen?? Of course the mountains are still standing there. Musically it isn’t exciting. If this was another band, the album would be derided as a bad Turnpike knockoff even worse than Flatland.
I absolutely love their music like so many reading this blog do, but I don’t think they should be put on a pedestal as if they could do no wrong. I might be a bit harsh, but I would ask other listeners to at least question some of these lyrics. I mean, shouldn’t a little more guilt for his actions be expressed in them? Or at least something deeper? It’s all about the redemption and nothing about the path getting there. This guy screwed over fans, friends, and family and all we get from the lyrics is that he has a lot more to offer rather than a self reflective apology. It’s his choice what to share of course, but what isn’t shared says a lot.
August 26, 2023 @ 7:47 pm
Musically it’s nothing special, but Lyrics carry the album.
August 28, 2023 @ 11:15 am
No one else is going to say it because you’re flat out wrong.
August 27, 2023 @ 1:57 pm
Three More Days sounds like it could have been on “The Liar.” Fullbright has his own style…
August 27, 2023 @ 2:17 pm
Trigger…MAN I’m always left at a loss for words on how well you articulate reviews of songs, artists, and albums. It feels like both an exciting story and an informational biography all in one every time. Thank you for this.
August 27, 2023 @ 4:19 pm
Perhaps due to a recent obsession with The Wilder Blue (I absolutely love ’em) I never had time to jump whole-heartedly into the catalogue of the Turnpike Troubadours.
However, the mere mention of Black Sky has galvanized me into giving this album a proper listen. Anything that the Ozark Mountain Daredevils wrote is paydirt for me.
This makes me feel at home with the Turnpikes.
August 29, 2023 @ 9:37 am
Had not heard of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils before. I like the cover more than the original because Evan’s voice is stronger. I’ll check them out more though. It fit well on the album.
August 27, 2023 @ 7:05 pm
Great review.
August 28, 2023 @ 5:15 am
Count me in as being disappointed. Like other commenters have mentioned its the tempo or lack of that gets to me. Where is the Country Rock songs? Where is the story songs (at least ones you understand the lyrics to)? Where is that one song with heavy fiddle? Rank these songs with all their others and I would struggle to place any of them in the top half and some will be at the bottom. During my 3rd listen through (and probably my last) – the only thought that came in my head is that this album is in slow motion.
August 28, 2023 @ 8:06 am
Am I the only one who hoped “Lucille” was a Kenny Rogers cover?
August 28, 2023 @ 9:26 am
I like to think that Lucille is Lucy from “Bossier City”.
You know that Lucy’s kinda crazy
When she ain’t got her pills…..
August 28, 2023 @ 9:27 am
Also, for those complaining, at least this ain’t the new Zach Bryan album….
August 28, 2023 @ 11:13 am
Are you serious? In order: Mean Old Sun, The Rut, East Side Love Song. If this album disappoints you, you must be disappointed a lot.
August 28, 2023 @ 12:41 pm
Like the album, but I agree with comments concerning tempo of this album..
It misses a bit of aggressiveness.
And for all the people that were hating on ZB, because of some conspiracy theory on the release dates, he has Turnpike opening for him for parts of the huge tour he just announced.
August 29, 2023 @ 5:40 am
There was more anticipation ripping off the cellophane and trying to peel that theft prevention sticker when 1/4 of the album wasn’t already out there.
August 29, 2023 @ 5:05 pm
Was one of those who was a bit underwhelmed after the first couple of spins. After listening regularly… I think it plays fabulously as an album. There isn’t a track that hasn’t grown on me. Really good work fellas.
September 2, 2023 @ 5:26 pm
The producers really did the band a disfavor here. The reverb/overall vocal processing has the effect of flattening the vocals (both Felker and the backups) and stripping much of the emotion from them.
It’s not quite as bad as what they’ve been doing to Parker McCollum, but it’s in the same vein.
September 5, 2023 @ 12:42 pm
Love the album as a whole. Perhaps a bit more somber in tone overall than previous releases, but it somehow feels appropriate to me after what they’ve been through the past few years. They’re coming out a dark period, I wouldn’t expect too many rollicking good-time songs.
Also, is “The Rut” another chapter in the saga of Jimmy?
The story finds him getting back to his roots after getting stuck in a rut. He’s not just “barely breaking even” like his time with Lorrie…he’s “holdin’ out for more than breaking even” this time around.
September 11, 2023 @ 11:55 am
Just what I thought this album is a grower. I will say this is probably their weakest release but by a hair. Their previous albums excluding the album pre D&G are top shelf country records. I now listen to all the songs from this album frequently and even struggle going to their old stuff. “Black Sky” is an absolute bluesy jam. It has everything you need great playing, singing and songwriting. Love it and glad they are back.
September 19, 2023 @ 2:33 pm
I listened to this album 3 or 4 times upon its release and I had become mostly convinced that it was up to the TT standard set my the previous 4 albums. Then I made a playlist that included all 5 albums plus a few other non-album songs. When I put this entire list on random, the “Cat in the Rain” songs (other than the 3 that were pre-released) just don’t compare well to the earlier output. They’re not bad songs but the expectations were VERY high.
But being the weakest Turnpike album is similar to being the 4th runner up to miss-America.
Even if the album failed to meet MY expectations, my ears are happy to know that more music is coming. If Cat in the Rain is the new normal its still good enough for me to keep listening and looking forward to the next one.
I would also argue that the album, as a whole, would have been more impactful if I had not already heard those three songs prior to release.
October 18, 2023 @ 11:49 am
After listening for a while now (which I have to do generally with TT)-yes it is more laid back and “simple,” but I think because it’s supposed to be that way. This is TT and Evan saying sorry for the past, it’s him writing out his recovery and restoration with family and fans, it’s them saying we’re gonna strip it down because we want to lay bare just what happened. Nothing fancy, nothing bombastic, just music for the sake of music, for confession.
So take it that way-this is them saying, sorry we were gone and the last song sums it all up.
Also-wonder if “Lucille” is really about Lorrie, and that is her name and now as he (Jimmy?) is older (she’s married), he’s reflecting about what they had?
October 24, 2023 @ 10:02 pm
As with most things as I am older, I like to let everything marinate. I don’t completely understand every outside angle with respect to this album and how personal it is. But it’s lovely. The live version of “Cat in the Rain” is beautiful. Both. But hating on Shooter is an odd angle.
Too much laptop slide? Too much audio engineering? Possibly. It ain’t *4th of July” all over again. Everybody is always on Evan’s ass even when he’s straight. This is the best country song put out from the studio in years. Don’t trip over your own feet. Let the man be.
If you don’t want the story then you already gave up country. The whole album is an ode to Staci. Maybe I’m just a Boomer, whatever.
December 8, 2023 @ 5:34 pm
I’ve had all Fall with this album, and there’s very little that hasn’t been mentioned in this review, other reviews, forum threads, or this very comment section.
But it blows my fucking mind that nobody, anywhere that I can find, has pointed out that the verse sections of “Lucille” share a chord progression — and even a damn key (!) — with the verse sections of Townes’ “Rake”.
Because, as Trigger points out in this review…this is an album that almost never came to be.
And if you want to find a song that explains why, well, it’d be hard to find one that does that better than “Rake.” If I had to guess, Felker really set out to write a song about this period in his life — the album needed one — but it had already been written.
By Townes.
Which, you know, fuck. What do you do?
Well, if your Evan Felker…you write “Lucille” with the most explicit references possible, and you don’t hedge your bets. Risky? Try terrifying. Someone already wrote the song you needed to write. And now you might be accused of plagiarism.
But fuck man, if folks don’t pick up on the reference…well. Fuck ’em.
I just don’t get how nobody is talking about the reference.
* Yes the troubadours add a C chord, but you could play either song