Johnny Cash is dead. Long live Johnny Cash. The man’s popularity is as high now as at any point in the past 20 years – yup, it really is still the best career move going. Bit of a fucker that he’s not around to soak it up, but what is his loss is undoubtedly the gain of bands like The Beauty Shop, a gruff Mid-West alt-country trio, who slide snugly into the imprint pressed by this renewed interest and strangely end up sounding all the more contemporary for it. What we have here then is a sort of best of, an introduction for curious Brit audiences – a la The Hives’ ‘Your New Favourite Band’ or The Bellrays’ ‘Meet The Bellrays’. It’s basically a compilation of their already well-received first 2 albums, ‘Yr Money Or Yr Life’ and ‘Crisis Helpline’.
It’s as much for lovers of dark, almost black comedy takes on life’s melancholy (we’re thinking Smog, the National, Leonard Cohen, Lambchop) as enthusiasts of guitars that go ‘thw-twaaaaang’ and come with one free acre of acrid mental desert and a whole bundle of loneliness. John Hoeffleur’s voice is sewn almost entirely from regret and dead cigarette ends, constantly dispensing the kind of wistful wisdom only valid after 3 or 4 shots of Jack. Take nuggets such as “the only perfect love is one that gets away” (‘I Got Issues’) and our personal favourite by a country mile: “I guess I’d go and I’d make amends, if I could only find my shoes” (‘A Desperate Cry For Help’).
It’s an album that works with the basics for the most part, but it feels like there would be more if someone would just tear a hole in their trusty consistency. ‘Babyshaker’ with its giddy-drunk hoedown, red-eyed grumbles and momentary guitar freak-out is one straightjacket from joining Modest Mouse and some tracks, ‘Monster’ particularly with its passive/aggressive momentum, reminds us of the Pixies with all the outer layers stripped away. While it might not exactly have you ripping apart the import racking at your local indie store, ‘Yard Sale’ is a firm fistful of songs not to be messed with, no filler included.
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