Tuesday 17 May 2011
Everybody wins
While listening to Songs of Man, the new record from One Hundred Dollars, I kept likening the band to a chameleon. When you listen to the music, One Hundred Dollars very much are a traditional country band, but their sound and style is adapted to fit within a modern music context. They can easily share a stage with other country acts, or folk bands, or be part of the roster of an indie or punk music festival and you wouldn’t blink an eye. One Hundred Dollars as the ability to fit into whatever background you wish to put them against.
The only difference between them and a chameleon is, try as they might to blend in, One Hundred Dollars writes and records songs that stand out from the rest of the crowd. Their first album, Forest of Tears, was recorded in 13 hours just six weeks after the band started playing together, and went on to be long listed for that year’s Polaris Music Prize despite having been released just under the the qualification deadline. Even at such an early stage, the power and talent of lead singer and lyricist Simone Schmidt was evident. Three years later, Schmidt and guitarist Ian Russell return after a line-up change that welcomes some new band members and sees others change instruments, but the power, passion and playing hasn’t diminished or changed. Songs of Man is the kind of album (like its predecessor) that comes out of nowhere and compels you to listen to it.
The tired and true country formula has been mixed with a significant amount of bluesy psychedelia on tracks like “Fires of Regret” and album opener “Ties That Bind”. Elsewhere, Schmidt and co. evoke classic Fleetwood Mac (see “Waiting On Another”) just as easily as they handle a delightfully country pop moment like “Everybody Wins”. I think that’s what sets One Hundred Dollars apart from other “alt-country” acts: they’re infusing modern influence on country songs rather than trying to throw country flourishes into modern songs. Like Daniel Romano (I know, I know, I’m obsessed with him!) Schmidt’s songwriting is character and story-driven, and so the musical arrangements have to be informed by the lyrics in a way that other alt-country bands avoid. Take “Aaron’s Song” as a prime example: Schmidt used to worked as a speech facilitator, saying that, “In that job, I’d go around life with people who don’t communicate verbally and assist in verbalizing what they’re thinking to the rest of the world.” She befriended one such person, Aaron: “I would communicate for him all over the place – the doctor’s office, the strip club, therapy, the bar. I got to know a lot of different people in ways I wouldn’t have other wise. Wild insights into the human condition.”
I didn’t start out writing this post with the intention of making it an album review, or nearly this long, but as I was writing and playing Songs of Man at the same time, I found that there was so much I wanted to tell you about the record, about the band, and about the experience of finding an album that you didn’t think would appeal to you, but wins you over with ease. With two weeks to go in this year’s eligibility period, my Polaris Nomination list has just had the rug pulled out from under it.
Songs of Man was released by Outside Music on May 10. You can buy it here.
MP3: One Hundred Dollars “Black Gold”
MP3: One Hundred Dollars “Waiting On Another”
Facebook: One Hundred Dollars
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 at 8:35 am and is filed under MP3, QBiM SPiNS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Elliott BROOD
