*** Loudon Wainwright
ATTEMPTED MUSTACHE
*** UNREQUITED
(Legacy/Sony)
Wainwright's been mining his midlife
crisis for the last decade or so, and these two reissues from the early '70s
are proof that existential bugaboos and domestic decay have always had a place
in his tunes -- often in amusing ways. Here you'll find him wryly telling his
yet-to-be-born son, Rufus, that life "has a few unpleasantries," and his
soon-to-be-ex-wife, Kate McGarrigle, that love's tender trap is in fact a
"suicide snare." Wit has never been a problem.
Attempted Mustache was recorded in Nashville, hitching the imagination
of a New York wiseacre to a country-rock sound. The scrappy grooves of the
rhythm section nudge Wainwright from his folkie beginnings, shoring up the
random violence of "Clockwork Chartreuse" and adding some righteous twang to
the clever chastisements of "Down Drinking at the Bar." The band actually rock
out on "A.M. World," the singer's poison-pen letter to the trappings of
big-time pop. Of course Wainwright's also a master of the ditty, and neglected
nuggets like Unrequited's "Kings and Queens" are hummable quips that
compare well with John Prine's most casual wordplay. Mockery and poignancy can
be captured in a phrase or two, and ultimately it's pith that defines the work:
whether Wainwright is needling new-age swamis or repenting to a long-gone
lover, he's almost as concise as a jingle writer.
-- Jim Macnie
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