Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade [review]

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Posted to Music on Fri Oct 12, 2007 at 06:29:51 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

What happens when hard-core troubadors find love and pull up roots? Well, you get a little something like Washington Square Serenade, the latest musical offering from firebrand alt-country icon and leftist posterboy, Steve Earle.

Washington Square Serenade finds Earle in a somewhat mellow mood, recording what what can only be described as a 2-sided love letter as he pays homage to his newly adopted city of New York, and openly emotes his love for new wife, country singer/songwriter, Allison Moorer.
While this record may surprise some with its surfeit of balladry and relative lack of political anthems, what may surprise even more people is that this album was recorded without backing from Earle's long-time band The Dukes, in favor of Pro Tools. That's right - samples, loops, and drum beats, all courtesy of the computer instead of a band. It still sounds like a Steve Earle album, though. The production is organic and the electronic flourishes are subtle enough to enhance the tunes rather than overwhelm them. Opener "Tennessee Blues" is a perfect example of everything the new album has to offer as it documents Earle's move to NYC with his new love by his side.

The remainder of the album finds Earle, with varying degrees of success,  tackling the concept of the NYC itself. "Down Here Below," comes at the listener from the point of view of famed NYC resident Pale Male, while "City Of Immigrants" addresses the melting pot reputation the city has long-held, though it does so in a hippie-dippie-esque way. This may be the most disappointing track on the album, as the subject matter cries out for some energy or anger to be injected into the song, instead there's a bunch of new-age cooing and strumming throughout, but what really destroys the track is the ending chorus of "we're all immigrants-everyone of us is immigrants" repeated ad nauseum, and if you try really hard you can almost smell the patchouli... Thankfully,"Sparkle And Shine," the love letter to his wife is next and it's a stunner of a love song that erases any memory of the previous track. Those hungering for a political anthems can find solace in "Steve's Hammer (for Pete)" a fabulous rocker that pays tribute to Pete Seeger  "when the war is over and the union's strong-won't sing no more protest songs.... when the air don't choke and the ocean's clean-and the kids don't die for gasoline-one of these days I'm gonna lay this hammer down." Those wanting haunted tales of life gone sadly wrong can find it in "Oxycontin Blues" with its harrowing tales of addiction. Also included is a cover of Tom Waits' "Way Down In The Hole" which will be used on The Wire this season right along with Steve reprising his role as Waylon for a few episodes.
Tracklist and final thoughts to follow:

 1. Tennessee Blues
 2. Down Here Below
 3. Satellite Radio
 4. City Of Immigrants
 5. Sparkle And Shine
 6. Come Home to Me
 7. Jericho Road
 8. Oxycontin Blues
 9. Red Is The Color
 10. Steve's Hammer (For Pete)
 11. Day's Aren't Long Enough
 12. Way Down In The Hole

No one can accuse Steve Earle of standing still or not taking chances. Between the programmed beats and the choice of songs present, it's an album that's not afraid to do a little exploring. Mostly this album works, despite a few puzzlers like the wimpy "City Of Immigrants" and the half-spoken, half-sung "Down Here Below" - neither of which are horrible, but you get the feeling that they could've, and should've, been much better. "Satellite Radio" is a catchy little number even though it shills (presumably) for Earle's Sirius radio program. There are some real gems on this album including, "Tennessee Blues", "Steve's Hammer (For Pete)," "Sparkle and Shine," "Oxycontin Blues," and "Way Down In The Hole." All in all, it's a pretty good album whose minor faults are easy to overlook, though I'd hesitate to call it essential unless you're a hard-core fan. 7 out of 10.