Vinyl Reviews - Robbie Fulks and Linda Gail Lewis

Robbie Fulks and Linda Gail Lewis Wild! Wild! Wild!

Album Info

Year2018

Catalog #BS 263

LabelBloodshot Records

Marketplace

Buy Now

Marketplace

Buy Now

2018 Bloodshot Records PRESSING

Music 4
Sound 3.5
Pressing 4
Jacket 2
VR Rating

3.5

Audience

3.3
Rate Album Buy Pressing Buy Now

Catalog Number BS 263
Release Year 2018
Pressing Weight 180g
Jacket Style Single
Pressing Plant Gotta Groove Records

Rate Album

Buy at Amazon

Buy Now

Review By

Don’t be mistaken: Wild! Wild! Wild! is not a throwback, nostalgia-obsessed affair. On the opening “Round Too Long,” Linda Gail Lewis lets loose a bit of a growl and delivers a show-stopping line: “When the girls was playin’ at jump rope/I was playin’ the men for fools.” And with that, the 71 year-old artist, who throughout her sporadic solo career has earned a cult following and once collaborated with Van Morrison, makes it clear she’s been flipping the script on the patriarchy since a young age and will continue to do so here.

What follows are 13 tracks, a mix of covers and originals, that alternately reflect on a life of hard living while underlining the fact these musicians aren’t done racking up regrets. The waltzing ballad “That’s Why They Call It Temptation” sees Lewis and Robbie Fulks trading verses while documenting the horrors of growing old and dreaming of a one-night affair. Later, the playful guitars and romantic backing vocals on “Who Cares” have fun at the narrator’s expense: Lewis and Fulks have been around long enough to know heartbreak is largely selfish and solitary. Then we get “Till Death,” a glib revenge song that gets more macabre with each verse.

Throughout, the tone conveys light-stepping and fun, but never turns slight. “Boogie Woogie Country Gal,” a gender-swapped nod to the Jerry Lee Lewis hit, showcases Lewis’ own fiery piano skills while bringing women to the fore. Fulks takes the lead on “I Just Lived a Country Song,” in which the woe-is-me tales of old songs start to hit closer and closer to home. At times, as on the latter, the violin feels lifted from a barroom. Elsewhere, such as with “Foolmaker,” church-like keys provide a soulful, gospel feel. “Memphis Never Falls from Style” shifts between bluegrass and jazz, with an assist on clarinet from admired Chicago jazzman Eric Schneider

Hence, even on slower, woozier songs, Wild! Wild! Wild! teems life. As Lewis sings at one point, “This ain’t an old folks reunion.”

The review copy is black 180-gram vinyl, not the “transparent rock n’ roll red” vinyl offered on the Bloodshot Records’ website. It isn’t flat, but quiet with no distractions. The sound has solid bass foundation, more natural warmth than upper-frequency detail, and as the program material requires, it boogies! A bit more dynamic punch and contrast, especially on Lewis’ vocals, would have been welcome. Nonetheless, the audio gets the point across. Bloodshot’s nondescript direct-to-board jacket is notable only for its “wild” throwback design.