Mad Mackerel Recommends The James Low Western Front

The James Low Western Front may come from the lush climes of Portland, Oregon, but theirs is a sound that was born in towns like Nashville, Tennessee and Bakersfield, California. It shuffles, grooves, and sweats with the best of them, begging to be played through the in-dash stereo of a pickup truck.

The eight-song collection on forthcoming release Whiskey Farmer focuses on the plight of the titular character (portrayed on the front cover of the album by Low himself), someone that has, according to Low, “always done things kind of right- did OK in school, went to a generic college, racked up a shitload of debt, and got a job to pay off the debt. He drinks to forget. He alienates the ones who love him best, and just cannot believe that this is all there is to life.”

Those are the sorts of songs we like to hear at MM and the band captures and paints, in broad and specific strokes, the lovelorn, embittered, and beaten-down state with a perfectly lived-in sound that would be the envy of any alt country up-and-comers. Low captures the desperation of not only The Whiskey Farmer’s life, but also the life of anyone who has ever strained for a better existence via lyrics that are rich with detail and poignancy.

Watch the first in a series of planned videos produced to accompany the album, and download this and the title track below.