Patterson Hood - Murdering Oscar (and other love songs)

Hey Kids:

Patterson Hood, who you should know from the Drive By Truckers, has finally got around to recording another solo record. And there was much rejoicing. Patterson is nothing less than prolific when it comes to the songwriting, perhaps to a fault. So many great songs pop up for a tour or two, never to reappear outside of the live trading set. Murdering Oscar has songs that date as far back as the end of Adam's House Cat (Patterson and Cooley's first band from the 80s) and some as recent as the last couple months. All of them are pretty fabulous. A lot of the material reaffirms Hood's love for all things Big Star. Danborn and Johnson of the mighty Centro-matic guest on a lot of the tracks, as does co-producer Dave Barbe. If you like DBT, there is very little chance that you won't enjoy Murdering Oscar. It may be a little bit less rock, and you may miss Cooley and Shonna a little bit, but realize they aren't going anywhere. There's a DBT odds and sods comp coming down the pike in the Fall, and there's always the Booker T. Jones record to tide you over. Carpe Diem, kids. Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) is out now. You can grab it via this handy link. The live show is pretty fierce , too, so stay more than a second or too and peep the tour dates.

R

Live: Patterson Hood and the Screwtopians with Will Johnson at Bowery Ballroom 6.24.9

The new Patterson Hood record Murdering Oscar and other love songs had been inching ever closer to the top of the pile before Traci at Thirty Tigers got in touch about seeing the show at Bowery. His first solo record Killers and Stars, dropped almost five years ago now, but Patterson always has a million songs in various stages of completion. Many of them have been recorded for the new record, but there are easily an equal number still gestating.

The Screwtopians are Patterson's solo band, featuring Neff and EZB from Drive By Truckers, Scott Danborn and Will Johnson from Centro-matic, with Mr. Dave Barbe filling out the line-up on bass. Look at that band and then tell me how the hell this show didn't sell better. I know I'm broke, but the economy can't be so bad that this show should have been so sparsely attended. The ignorance of New Yorkers never fails to astound me. Will opened up the evening with a short solo set, featuring a pretty great Husker cover, Danborn for a tune or two, and a tune with the Screwtopians to close the set. Will deserves to be very famous, very soon. We should all do everything we can to make that the case.

I had hoped for a seamless set, especially with The Screwtopians coming out for Will's last song, but it was not to be. They were out soon enough, working through some sound problems, but still pretty much killing it. You would do well to pick up a copy of the new record stat. It's got recorded versions of Heavy and Hanging and Back Of A Bible and some other newer fare. Even though I haven't reviewed it formally, you would be wise to buy it immediately via this handy link. Check out the tourdates here and get your friends to go see those Screwtopians. The show is far too good to be passed over in favor of the next spate of DBT shows.

R