11428 - WACO BROTHERS - GOING DOWN IN HISTORY (2016)

WACO BROTHERS
''GOING DOWN IN HISTORY''
FEBRUARY 26 2016
29:01
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01 - Diybyob 02:59
02 - We Know It 03:13
03 - Receiver 02:48
04 - Building Our Own Prison 02:46
05 - All Or Nothing 02:58 (Ronald Lane, Stephen Marriott)
06 - Had Enough 02:13
07 - Lucky Fool 02:54
08 - Going Down In History 03:05
09 - Devil's Day 03:19
10 - Orphan Song 02:45 (John Dee Graham)
Tracks By Waco Brothers, Except 5, 10
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Joe Camarillo/Drums, Vocals
Jean Cook/Violin
Tracy Dear/Mandolin, Vocals
Alan Doughty/Bass, Vocals
Mike Hagler/Vocals
Jon Langford/Guitar, Vocals
Barkley McKay/Organ, Piano
Dean Schlabowske/Guitar, Vocals
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BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Mark Deming
Fear and Whiskey
Often described as "Half Cash, half Clash" for their fiery mixture of classic country spirit ("Cash" meaning the Man in Black) and old-school punk energy and defiance, the Waco Brothers were the most successful of the many side projects launched by Jon Langford, one of the founding members of eclectic British punk-and-beyond troublemakers the Mekons. In the '80s, the Mekons began exploring the influences of American country music, which they had discovered while touring the United States, and the results were heard on the albums Fear and Whiskey (1985) and Honky Tonkin' (1987). Langford in particular was fascinated by the music of Johnny Cash; in 1988, he helped coordinate a U.K. compilation album, 'Til Things Are Brighter: A Tribute to Johnny Cash, and in 1994, he released Misery Loves Company: The Dark and Lonely World of Johnny Cash, a collection of covers credited to Johnny Langford & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts.

Insurgent Country, Vol. 1: For a Life of Sin
After Langford relocated to the United States and settled in Chicago, Illinois, he wanted to form a band to play club shows in town, mostly in the interest of fun and free beer. Langford assembled a group heavy on fellow U.K. expatriates -- Langford on guitar and vocals, Alan Doughty (ex-Jesus Jones) on bass, Tracey Dear on mandolin and vocals, Mark Durante (of KMFDM and Revolting Cocks) on steel guitar, and Steve Goulding (who worked with the Mekons and Graham Parker & the Rumour) on drums, with token native Chicagoan Dean Schlabowske (of Wreck and Dollar Store) on guitar and vocals. Meanwhile, Langford had struck up a friendship with Rob Miller and Nan Warshaw, two fans of both punk and country music who were starting their own record label, and in 1994, the same year the Waco Brothers began playing out, Langford contributed two songs to Bloodshot Records' first release, For a Life of Sin -- a solo recording of his song "Over the Cliff," and a version of the Mekons' "Hole in the Ground" credited to Iggy Yoakam & His Famous Pogo Ponies. (Langford also provided the album's cover artwork.)

To the Last Dead Cowboy
While the Waco Brothers initially had no intention of recording, as their local following grew and Bloodshot provided the band a friendly home, they cut an album in 1995, To the Last Dead Cowboy. The album sold reasonably and reviews were good, so they returned in 1997 with Cowboy in Flames. The album's sales far outstripped those of the debut, and the Waco Brothers became one of the leading acts on Chicago's thriving alt-country scene. While most of the group's members, like Langford, were also busy with other projects, the Wacos still played Chicago on a regular basis, launched short tours when they were of a mind, and released a steady stream of albums. The Wacos dropped four studio albums between 1999 and 2005 (Wacoworld, Electric Waco Chair, New Deal, and Freedom and Weep), all of which featured the group's hot-wired fusion of country and punk, welded to lyrics that offered a leftist spin on working-class politics. The year 2005 also brought a collaboration with pianist Dave Herndon, Nine Slices of My Mid-Life Crisis, and in 2008 the band finally documented its live show on CD with Waco Express: Live & Kickin' at Schuba's Tavern.

Great Chicago Fire
The Waco Brothers' next album was another collaboration, Great Chicago Fire, in which they teamed up with celebrated singer and songwriter Paul Burch. The album also documented a new Waco Brothers lineup, as Mark Durante left the band and Steve Goulding returned to the reunited Graham Parker & the Rumour; Joe Camarillo, of Number Nine and Gear, took over Goulding's place behind the drums. In 2016, the Wacos released their first studio album of new material from the band in over a decade, Going Down in History, which found the band in stripped-down and fiery form; they supported the album with a short tour, which included several shows in Texas for the South by Southwest Music Conference and, of course, a handful of gigs in Illinois.
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WEBSITE
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TO THE TOP
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6413 - WACO BROTHERS & PAUL BURCH - Great Chicago Fire (2012)

WACO BROTHERS & PAUL BURCH
''GREAT CHICAGO FIRE''
APRIL 24 2012
38:36

1 /Great Chicago Fire
Paul Burch / Jon Langford/3:43
2 /Give In
Dean Schlabowske/3:31
3 /Wrong Side of Love
Paul Burch/3:27
4 /Flight to Spain
Paul Burch/4:44
5 /Cannonball
Jon Langford/2:37
6 /Monterey
Paul Burch/2:58
7 /Someone That You Know
Jon Langford/2:53
8 /Transfusion Blues
Paul Burch/2:49
9 /On the Sly
Dean Schlabowske/3:49
10 /Up on the Mountain
Paul Burch/2:57
11 /Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
Bob Dylan/5:08

Pat Brennan /Accordion, Piano
Paul Burch /Drums, Guitar, Piano (Electric), Producer, Sound Balancer, Vocals
Joe Camarillo /Drums
Tracy Dear /Electronic Mandolin, Vocals
Alan Doughty /Bass (Electric)
Steve Goulding /Drums
Fats Kaplin /Fiddle
Jon Langford /Guitar, Vocals
Tawny Newsome /Vocals
Dean Schlabowske /Guitar, Organ, Vocals
Bethany Thomas /Vocals

REVIEW
By Mark Deming
The package for Great Chicago Fire includes a tongue-in-cheek note from the owner of Bloodshot Records urging the Waco Brothers and Paul Burch to team up despite their "paltry record sales" in an effort to create something that "should aim to be between the 14th and 25th best rock albums ever made." Part of what presumably makes this funny is the fact that Paul Burch has never had a reputation for rocking out -- he's an excellent songwriter who has made a handful of fine albums fusing various roots styles with traditional country sounds, but rock & roll just isn't in his wheelhouse. The Waco Brothers, on the other hand, have always been a rock band first and a country act third or fourth, despite their clear reverence for the genre and its traditions. Putting Burch and the Wacos together in the studio would seem like a dicey prospect, but the two acts bring out unexpected strengths in one another on Great Chicago Fire. Arriving seven years after the Waco's last studio effort, Great Chicago Fire finds them sounding fresher and more enthusiastic than they have in a while, and though this doesn't hit nearly as hard as their best work, the songs connect with an admirable strength and grace, and they haven't had a set of material as consistently strong as this in a decade. And if Burch doesn't sound like a rock singer on this set, he rides the waves of The Waco Brothers' more muscular approach with aplomb as they make with a Stones-influenced R&B groove that informs even the most C&W specific numbers on the album. Closing with a Bob Dylan cover re-imagined as a lost Yardbirds tune, Great Chicago Fire is that rare collaboration where both sides seem to inform one another equally and derive new strengths from teaming up, and with any luck these two acts will bring the fire again someday.

BIOGRAPHY
By Jason Ankeny

Waco Brothers are one of many projects spearheaded by Jon Langford, the frontman of the seminal British punk band the Mekons. An alternative country outfit based in Langford's adopted home of Chicago, Waco Brothers' approach grew out of mid-'80s Mekons records like Fear and Whiskey and The Mekons Honky Tonkin', which explored the group's interest in roots music. After the Mekons eventually returned to a more straightforward, punk-flavored sound, Waco Brothers emerged over a decade later as a vehicle for Langford's long-dormant country leanings. Fusing honky tonk and rockabilly with Langford's typically political lyrics, the group was for the most part comprised of fellow British expatriates, including drummer Steve Goulding (who plays with the Mekons and was a member of Graham Parker's the Rumour), bassist Alan Doughty (ex-Jesus Jones), steel guitarist Mark Durante (who worked with KMFDM), and mandolinist Tracy Dear, with guitarist Dean Schlabowske (aka Deano) serving as the group's token Yankee.

While Langford originally founded the group strictly as a live act to play locally in Chicago, Waco Brothers soon won a passionate following for their energetic and beer-soaked club gigs, and after Langford struck up a friendship with Bloodshot Records co-founder Rob Miller, the band recorded its debut album for the label, 1995's To The Last Dead Cowboy. A second album followed in 1997, Cowboy In Flames, and soon became one of the label's biggest sellers; since then, Waco Brothers have released a steady stream of albums (Freedom and Weep [2005], Waco Express: Live & Kickin' at Schuba's Tavern [2008], The Great Chicago Fire, a collaboration with Paul Burch [2012]) and toured periodically, though folks wanting to see them on-stage are still best advised to visit Chicago. Several members of The Waco Brothers are frequent participants in another of Langford's many projects, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, while Schlabowske also performs with his own group, Dollar Store.