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Dispatches from the Highlands
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sponsible for it ending is about the upcoming jaunt, it's heartwarming. e musical embodiment of idiosyncratic: Soul Coughing. Fantastic Cat Now at's What I Call Fantastic Cat
Album Notes from Erickson “The Soundtrack to your Chill”
Soul Coughing e Band Returns
"Hell freezes over" is rightfully associated with the reunion of a far more successful act. However, the same sentiment ap-
Gather round for shades of rock and country, a collection of songs with each tune feeling like
you’ve walked into that familiar bar in Smalltown, USA. Nodding in recogni- tion as you enter, by the time one has ended, you’ve embraced it for its own existence and may want to sing along next time. Fantastic. Cat.
plies to the truly, truly improbable announce- ment of a band reforming (also) 24 years a er their demise. But why say in three words when two will do: Holy shit. Or four: Soul Coughing is back! e thought of this happening never, ever, ever, entered my mind, much like the band members themselves. Lead singer and guitarist Mike Doughty, on the shortlist of my favorite vocalists, said as much: " e guys in Soul Coughing hated me." Which seems accurate. Apparently, the (brilliant) bass player saw a question posted on Facebook, "Is there ever going to be a Soul Coughing reunion?" and responded with (the also bril- liant) "Not unless one of us dies." at one titled his 2012 memoir e Book of Drugs and freely admits "I loved drugs, I loved them." So yeah, that helps explain...some things. A er three records in four years over an eight-year existence, it wasn't exactly internally going well for the self-described "deep slacker jazz" quartet around the turn century. While Doughty has been slowly incorporat- ing more Soul Coughing material into his solo work, including a 2019 tour in which he played their entire debut, followed by the Ghost of Vroom e orts that were basically Soul Coughing without the other band mem- bers, it's still staggering to hear this news. It may never amount to anything more than the upcoming 17 shows, but even if that's it, knowing how excited the man largely re-
Shannon & the Clams e Moon Is In the Wrong Place
Before summer began, Shannon and her Clams returned with e Moon Is In e Wrong Place. e formula remains the same, with Dan Au- erbach returning as producer, dialing in
the throwback sound behind Shaw's beautifully powerful voice, and the Oakland out t drop another set that once again is both 60s retro and fresh. e di erence here is that LP num- ber seven o en takes on a more emotional tone compared to much of their previous work, and understandably so. e band wrote e Moon Is In e Wrong Place a er Shaw's ancé died in a car crash just a few months before their wedding. While that lends a weight to many of the lyrics, and a somber mood to a number of tunes, Shannon & the Clams' MO of garage rock/R&B/soul keeps things upbeat through- out. Bonus points for a great album title.
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