Alabama Bounding
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First of all, you should know that no one in the Alabama 3 is from Alabama. (They're Brits, pardner.) And, as heard on the retrospective/compilation Hits and Exit Wounds, this strangely eclectic and somewhat mysterioso ensemble is so much more than its sinister, insinuating signature song "Woke Up This Morning" - world-renowned as the theme to "The Sopranos," one of the greatest television programs in the history of the medium.
That association is a mixed blessing for the band, which is also known as A3 so that no morons mistakenly confuse them with the tedious American country group Alabama. Since "Woke Up…" is probably the only number by A3 that's been heard by the great majority, it paints an odd picture of this thoroughly modern bunch with a crazy-quilt of influences. Honestly, the first time I heard the track, I thought it was an unearthed rarity by Talking Heads, circa their Fear of Music album. Blame the simple but relentless machine beat at the heart of the arrangement and the incipient threat in a growling lead vocal that sounded to me like Heads singer David Byrne in a very bad mood.
As I soon learned, the members of A3 may be as jagged and determinedly arty as Talking Heads, but they work some very different influences, most prominently American country music. I'd like to be as accurate as possible, so I'll call A3's sound a bizarre, irony-laden fusion of country & western, rap, house, electronica, rock, blues, and gospel with punk-rock attitude and a left-leaning socio-political edge. This new collection of discography high-points should rectify any misconceptions about the band while shining a proper light on its unique, if eclectic nature. A3 is decidedly not a one-trick pony.
Although the line-up has often swelled to 10 or so musicians, the founders were Jake Black and Rob Spragg who allegedly met at an acid-house party in the late 1990s and decided that they should attempt to meld traditional American country music, electronic dance beats and darkly sarcastic humor. So they did, and A3 developed from there with Spragg alias "Larry Love" and Black alias "The Very Reverend Dr. D. Wayne Love" providing vocals and direction. Exile on Coldharbour Lane, the first of A3's six studio albums, was released to critics' kudos in 1997.
Among the standout tracks on Hits and Exit Wounds (18 in all), "Hypo Full of Love" and "Monday Don't Mean Anything" successfully echo the prowling, percolating rhythm and downbeat lyrical content of "Woke Up This Morning." The latter's distraught-sounding harmonica part and its depiction of lawlessness and hair-trigger violence may have been an ideal thematic match with "The Sopranos," but again, A3 didn't stop there.
"Hello...I'm Johnny Cash," paying wry homage to an icon, is a deliberately clichéd country shuffle with a humorous lyric about a wannabe Man-in-Black that invokes scads of Cash tropes. The David Byrne vibe creeps in on "Mao Tse Tung Salad," a daunting piece that starts with a synthesizer wash and mixes spoken-word rants (including sampled bits from notorious cult leader Jim Jones) and a chugging electro-beat. The result recalls certain rhythmic sound collages on Byrne's experimental album with Brian Eno, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.
Things get even wilder on "Mansion on the Hill," a ripping funky-drummer-fueled dance remix by Arthur Baker, with killer breaks, more sampled voices, and a distant harmonica wail that slips in and out of the soundscape; and nuttier on "U Don't Danse to Tekno Anymore," a country lament about a burnt-out club kid.
Johnny Cash's name is again cited on "How Can I Protect You," which is more lamentation - this time, laced with gospel inflections and a Memphis R & B beat that rises in intensity as the tune plays out. Another embodiment of Americana is name-checked in "Woody Guthrie" - a country-fried ditty yet thoroughly modern protest song that honors its title figure with its rap about political unrest, censorship, blind patriotism, etc. "Ain't Goin' to Goa" is a comic poke at religious evangelism, slaves to fashion, uber-hipness, and new-age bullshit that skitters along like the audio track in a rave chill-out room.
Western Goth-rock with a hip-hop beat that mutates into spooky backwoods blues? "Too Sick to Pray." Spiraling guitar-driven riff-rock with testifying-preacher vocals? "Up Above My Head." Drawling country-rock balladry? Traditional pedal-steel licks? Shards of ska, funk, and punk? You'll find it here. There's even a cover of Jerry Reed's 1970s anecdotal country hit/tall-tale, "Amos Moses," about a Cajun gator-poacher missing an arm. It's all black-snake moan and bluesy strut.
Their pièce de résistance may very well be "Sad Eyed Lady of the Low Life" (take-off on a Bob Dylan song title definitely intended) - a portrait of a woman living in the modern urban underbelly, blending many of the band's influences plus delicate piano passages and an anarchic female chorus, in an improbably harmonious way.
A3's post-modern polyglot of styles may not be for everybody. The adoption of country music tropes and hammy Southern accents by U.K. nationals could be misconstrued as bogus. Some might mistake their wit for cynicism. But there's nothing else out there today that's quite like what A3 has been doing for the past decade. Hits and Exit Wounds is a convenient way to catch up on the best of it - which is often smokin'!
Here's the freaky-deaky original video for the full-length "Woke Up This Morning," off of Exile on Coldharbour Lane. Not a Mafioso in sight.
Comments (24)
I love their music after I caught them live at the rhythm festival in Bedford. What a fantastic, energetic and entertaining bunch of people. I also adore Devlin Loves voice, she adds extra quality to the whole ensemble.
Of course a band called Alabama 3 is from England:
(Birmingham, England)
From Toronto City News
Whaddya mean not a mafioso in sight in that vid? They're just not of the italian variety! Always loved that song(& The Sopranos) but never investigated further, so thanks for this. Liking what else I hear.
Mindful: I'm sure on board, even though I haven't had the chance to see them in person.
fairportfan: High-larious! What a find...
August: That video is definitely A3's version of Cosa Nostra (Italian slang for "our thing") - just not the New York/New Jersey version of the Mafia so familiar in all media.
I like the 'Last Supper' context in the vid too. Jesus & crew were the first O.G.s, heh
I prowl the Yahoo News listings for oddball stuff.
You ought to see the stories about the woman who had her dog cloned and her picture with the pups was published world wide and she turns out to be a former Miss Wyoming (i think - Miss Some-state-or-other, anyway) who in 1977 kidnapped a Mormon missionary in England and held him and forced him to have sex with her and after she and a male friend made bail in that case they fled England disguised as nuns, and later she got arrested in California for stalking the Mormon again, after he became an attorney ... and the latest story says that Tennessee thinks she's the woman they want on a fugitive warrant for trying to commit a burglary with a 15-year old accomplice who she convinced to help because she needed money to buy an artificial leg for her horse...
As Anna Russell says, partway through her hilarious narration of the plots of the entire "Ring" Cycle, "I'm not making this stuff up, you know..."
got into these guys all because of the Sopranos.........love this video
August: They were the original something, weren't they?
ff: Unbe-friggin-lievable!
Kevin: The clip does manage to give the song a dimension other than "TV show theme," no matter how lauded the program. But, now and forever, it will always be the theme to "The Sopranos."
Is that a Zoot Suit, 40's style meets Mod sort of Tog getup I'm peeping there? They mix up it even in their fashion... Very original indeed - the whole album is definitely worth checking out ... many thanks!
The Americana they display here is definitely authentic. Did Kid Rock ever give them a head nod, for at least lifting about half their sound... which would make up about 90% of his sound (if not more...)?
Just curious,
V
van: It's Po-Mo World where everything old is new again and again and smushed together to boot! Re: The A3 album - You're welcome. It's a helluva ride. Kid Rock? Allow me to direct you to the "Is Clay Aiken the Devil?" thread.
...LOL!!!... Yeah - you can actually just expand that to a list, although I may have to create a data warehouse to contain all of the names that might make it on said list... :P
I remember that lady kidnapping the poor Mormon! It was major news, partly because he wore a chastity belt to save himself from evil temptresses like her. It's nice to know she's maintained her career choice - but did she get that leg for her horse? It would be nice to think so.
Mike - Very interesting...Really like it. Thanks for the heads up. The hubby, sitting behind me as I listen, says it has a Stereophonics quality to them...Hmmmm!
van: As they say, the devil's in the details.
Jonh: Talk about getting a leg up on the competition. I just want everyone to know that, unlike biology, chastity isn't destiny.
annie: My pleasure. That Stereophonics reference got me to thinking that our pal Crash Pryor probably dug A3. Right up his eclectic alley, I'd wager.
yes it will be mike, but for people like me I heard it, investigated and came out with a new band to love
Kevin: Then my work here is done - until the next comment...
your work is never done!
Damn!
They used live and play a lot in the pubs and clubs of Brixton (South London), which back in the mid-nineties was a melting pot in the extreme, to put it nicely.
As a live band, they are pretty chaotic and very funny. Always loved "Ain't Goin' to Goa" as loads of Brits where going there at time and coming back with mythical Hippy tales of transcendental drugs, wild 48 hour beach parties, unusual STD's and being able to live on $2 a day for 6months. All bollocks of course....or was it?
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Goa Party;
I've always thought of the Goa thing as a wet Burning Man, which sounds suspiciously like something going "fizzle." These days, I'd rather go to Brixton.
Guilty as charged! I'm one of those statistics that has only heard the Sopranos theme out of this group.
That said, and even after having read your comrehensive review, here, I have to say...a greatest hits album already?!
Was it written into their contract? Maybe it just seems a bit soon to me because I haven't been following along, but if I had been making albums since 1997, I don't think I would be ready to make that leap into oldladyland.
incurablyerin: I'd say that the word "Hits" is a relative one, but it does go nicely with the phrase "Exit Wounds." Unless they're hanging it up, this album might be more properly titled "The Story So Far," and since so many people don't know of them beyond "Woke Up This Morning," a compendium of A3's best work (so far) isn't such a bad idea, commercially or aesthetically.
"The Sad Eyed Lady..." reminds me of early trip hop pioneers the Sneak Pimps in there fledgeling years. Similarities aside, I love it! Maybe it's the Dayquil I took on this dreary December morning to combat my cold or not, but this song seemed to cheer me up a bit, thanks!
You da Knife, Mike, you really are da Knife.
You're welcome, p-wagz. Breathe deep!