Review Revue: Dumptruck - For the Country

It seems I keep picking Boston bands even when I don't know I'm doing it. I had the slightest tickle of a memory at the band name Dumptruck - they were based in my hometown and dissolved amidst one of the crappiest legal B.S. stories I've ever heard when I was in my early teens - but I don't think I ever really listened to them. The main reason I pulled this record out of the stacks was, as usual, the lively discussion and debate found on the little white labels stuck to the cover.

As with many of the bands I've covered in this series, Dumptruck has been resurrected for the 21st century. Songwriter Seth Tiven seems to be actively writing, performing, and recording as Dumptruck from his current home in Austin (a December 2014 post on Facebook mentions a completed new record). Here's hoping for a new bunch of songs to be praised and argued over in the hallowed stacks of KEXP!

"To start, Hugh Jones produced this baby. Nice hooky pop-music, kind of jangly. Nice chord changes from song to song. '60s early underground folk influences and folk and . . ."

"Velvet Underground and... at least it's more palatable than earlier stuff. Yes, I use that word for you Marsh and now you don't have any space to write."

"Wow! This sounds really great."

"This sounds good after hearing only 2 songs."

"I like it, too. More good R + R. 'Wire.'"

"H for a week? Hugh taught, go."

"H! Sounds great in stereo - after the whole LP. Go! Go! Go!"

"Title track is quite special."

"This is dull."

"So are you."

"A personal attack will never prove a point or convince me otherwise."

"That wasn't personal, I didn't keep it to myself..."

"Infectious acoustics; catchy beat - star quality."

"Better than their last 2 LP's. They've eliminated that droning guitar sound that plagued them before. [Note to self: check out their previous 2 LPs.] Good disc. 1.2 good cut."