Venice is Sinking
Sand & Lines
(One Percent Press)
Venice is Sinking, one of Athens’ greatest exports, have dropped a new record that is so jawdroppingly good, words like “solid” and “superb” and “striking” simply do not do it justice. Sand & Lines, the third release from VIS, is a masterpiece of Americana sound that is organic, restrained, expertly executed, and palpably impassioned. Recorded live in the burnt down but re-building Georgia Theatre (proceeds from the album go directly to the theatre repair project), this record begs for comparisons to The Cowboy Junkies’ Trinity Sessions but, dare I say, broaches surpassing the latter for many reasons, one of which is a “Jolene” cover that is as devastating as the original. Sand & Lines joins The Trinity Sessions as a new classic in live session albums.
Girl-Boy vocals, heartbreak lyrics, and twangy guitar call out the band’s southern country influence but VIS makes the sound contemporary with layers of atmospheric pop and a departure from traditional intro, hook, bridge, chorus rules (think a more subdued Belle & Sebastian and a peppier Mazzy Star). The record revels in the lush harmony of a raw live quality and scaled back production and has that unquantifiable, buttery smoothness that makes it sound like a record in your collection for decades.
Highlights are many, starting with the three covers on Sand & Lines; VIS slay Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” Galaxie 500’s “Tugboat,” and Waylon Jennings’ “The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don’t Want To Get Over You).” VIS play the infinitely covered “Jolene” with more pain than a thousand dying kittens. The White Stripes’ version is a distant second, if it can even be considered in the same class. They play it down and dirty and slow like a chugging steam train. Blurred guitar and a tambourine add a psychedelic dream pop element to this canon of country music. VIS knock out the sagacious and sarcastic “Tugboat” (also a popular song to cover, e.g. British Sea Power and Submarines’ great versions) with a windswept latitude that softens the original, viscerally grunge version. Where Waylon Jennings has mastered that blue collar anger in his vocals on “The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don’t Want To Get Over You),” VIS make this break up number pure melancholy.
Dan Lawson and Karolyn Troupe’s vocal duets throughout Sand & Lines are a joy. A fun and occasional '70s trumpet adds levity to the mostly somber record. On the opener, “Sidelines,” the trumpet solo makes us feel like we’re shopping for orange sherbet at Thrifty’s on a hot summer day. Lawson and Troupe go super shoe gaze on “The Grey Line,” the sleepiest track on the record. “Lucky Lady” is a quaint waltz of a song highlighting Troupe’s stellar violin playing. “Falls City” sounds the most like a track from The Trinity Sessions; Troupe’s vocals hit their smoky peak here. However, of the originals on this record, “Bardstown Road” wins the golden ticket. All the players get their say on this lonely hearts club lament. In unison, they sing, “You’re not alone waiting at home for all the bars to close” amidst a sleigh bell rhythm that sounds like walking into an all night pie shop.
With Sand & Lines, Venice is Sinking take a welcomed departure from both the studio and an often more upbeat sound. Taking cues from The Cowboy Junkies, Dolly Parton, Sonic Youth, and Belle & Sebastian, this Georgia group have created an enduring, and endearing, alt-country soft-core sound.
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