reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Bean Pickers Union - Potlatch

The Boston-based Bean Pickers Union is Paul Gallo (drums, vocals), Gary Goodlow (guitar), Alan Levesque (bass, vocals) and Chuck Melchin (guitar, mandolin, vocals). Potlatch is their offer to us, and from the moment I saw the dilapidated barn on the cover of the CD, I knew what I wanted from this album. I wanted bitter stories of the death of the American dream; I wanted tales of murder, drinking and bitterness. By the time I got to the halfway point of the album and heard "Independence Day,” with Melchin dropping the lyrics "it was a small block 327," I was completely won over. "Photograph" and "Warrior" had already gotten my attention, but that line sealed the deal. This album was on the fast-track to the ninebullets.net Essential Listening list, and I figured that if the album played out the way it had started, it was gonna be one of my favorite albums  of the year. (It is)
Twangville.com has a review of the CD that says "If music is at its finest when it paints a picture, then this album is the rural equivalent of a Hopper painting." That's a really good description. The songs really recall the kind of stuff Chris Knight does – distinct stories carried by simple but equally powerful musical arrangements. For a debut, these guys have set one hell of a bar for themselves. I can't wait to hear what they do next. – Bryan Childs