'Day of the Doug' by Son Volt
Son Volt’s surprisingly jaunty new album opens and closes with the voice of hippie Tex-Mex giant Doug Sahm singing and joking on Jay Farrar’s ancient answering machine. It’s an intimate peek into the relationship between the two men, who first performed together on 1993’s Anodyne, the final album by alt-country pioneers Uncle Tupelo before that band split into what became Jeff Tweedy’s Wilco and the Farrar-fronted Son Volt. Now, even though Sahm’s been gone for almost a quarter-century, his songs provide the foundation for the most entertaining record in Son Volt’s 11-albums-deep catalog.
Day of the Doug features most of the band members who recorded Son Volt’s two previous records, 2021’s Electro Melodier and 2019’s Union. It showcases a dozen of Sahm’s finest compositions, including his work with the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornadoes (and the songs are not necessarily the ones you’d expect to hear on a record like this). From the sunshiny, self-referential “Sometimes You’ve Got to Stop Chasing Rainbows” to the playful weeper “Huggin’ Thin Air,” Son Volt sounds like a band that just remembered making music can be fun.
Son Volt will perform Aug. 15 at the Turner Hall Ballroom, playing the band’s 1995 debut album, Trace, in its entirety. Anders Parker opens.
Stream or download Day of the Doug here on Amazon.
