Richmond Fontaine 'We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River'

Richmond Fontaine are a band who have never completely clicked with me. If you read Uncut, you'd think they were the saviours of modern music, so ridiculously over-praised have they been by that magazine's editor. In truth, on their seven albums before this one, they have simply produced some pretty good Americana, little inspiration musically but with a singer songwriter (Willy Vlautin) who is an excellent storyteller.

Here, on their eighth record, they make some kind of lurch towards the mainstream. 'We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River' (and that is the last time I'm typing that out in this review) is a slightly more poppy version of the same thing. Vlautin's throaty, country-style vocals are not to everyone's taste, so the songs here are broken up by some nice, wistful instrumental interludes. It works well.

When he does sing, Vlautin sings some of the most depressing sets of lyrics to see the light of day this year. The songs almost exclusively concern themselves with the desperate, the drunk, the downtrodden and the lonely. Men trying hard to make a living whilst doing right by their woman and kids. Its the sound of blue collar America and it gets a bit wearing after a while. I could in particular have done without the "sometimes I was almost too drunk to get us home, but I always got us home" line, even if not meant literally.

There are some good songs here though. 'The Boyfriends' is upbeat and rocky, almost sounding like The Hold Steady and Vlautin's vocals move slightly away from the norm, 'You Can Move Back Here' is radio-friendly country rock, ticking all the boxes for a Replacements-style anthem, best of all is 'The Pull' a weary ballad about a washed up boxer.

Musically and lyrically though, there is not enough variety. The standout songs sound vibrant and driven, but too often the record sinks into easy rockers and dreary, dusty ballads.

Great title, sometimes great lyrics, average record.

6.4

['We Used To....' is out now on Decor Records, cd/lp/dl]