I figured I'd post this fabulous album some time here at One Buck Records and the time is now. Actually I was just reminded these last days of how awesome Israel Nash can be when listening to his latest, Ozarker, that I picked up from the library this week. That album with its glammed-up cover shows has Nash going the way of like-minded retro artists like Jonathan Wilson, after the 70s sounds of their repective sophomore albums he has now also arrived at an echo-filled, synth-esque 80s style that sounds like he also listened to Springsteen circa Born In The USA (or, you know, Taylor Swift's 1989). Actually, the evolution of Nash across his records is interesting. Predecessor Barn Doors and Concrete Floors, still with his last name Gripka attached, has hints of a closeness to the sound of Neal Young in songs like "Baltimore", but "Louisiana" also suggested the country side of Exile On Main Street and most of the album is a muscular, no-frills Americana recording in the 90s 'no depression' mould of Uncle Tupelo or Whiskeytown. But his sound changed relatively significantly for his sophore album, our One Buck Record of the day, Rain Plans.
Rain Plan, or rather Israel Nash's Rain Plan, is a record that doesn't sound like any Americana album from the 90s, it goes back further, much further. As the title might have tipped you off, think early 1970s Neil Young at his most blissfully stoned. A dude walks up Sugar Mountain, or in Israel Nash's case, down Myers Canyon, in a poncho, and probablly with more than a handful of peyotle in his pocket.
Gripka also changes his vocal style, going from more of a rock'n'roll growl to a not quite-falsetto that approaches the vocal style we associate with Mr. Young. The instrumentation is still Americana, with cascades of steel guitar washing over these songs, then mingling with slightly psychedelic elctric guitar, often recalling Young's brothers in arms instruments Crazy Horse. There is a real hippie vibe to the thing, right down to the artwork, Lesanka Honighs animal paintings and a mirror foil with the inscription "See the Beauty That Surrounds You". Cosmic American Music lives on!
If you liked Luke Gibson or you are a fan of the psychedelic Topanga Canyon retro music of the Beachwood Sparks, you should love this record. If you love Uncle Neil, you obviously will. But, really, if your musical sweet spot is, like mine, slightly off-kilter country-influenced rock that sounds straight out of the early 70s, give Isreal Nash's Rain Plans a listen. It's good stuff, maaaaan!
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