Goodman County

"Mississippi rowdies in the vein of the Drive By Truckers envision southern anarchy as what happens when a nice girl tries to go punk."
-SPIN - Essential New Music

THERE'S nothing quite like the sound of band in full flow and enjoying itself. Unless of course it's a Mississippi country rock band in full flow and Goodman County certainly do 'Good ol Miss' proud.

There's also a touch of arrogance about [this band] that ignites a spark in Dead-Ends and Transits. It's not the overbearing, bombastic kind of showbusiness arrogance, it's more an unshakable and justified belief in a collective ability to make great rock 'n' roll.

It allows the band to establish its credentials as an Americana band worthy of mention the greats of the genre with the roistering Crown Of Tin, the slightly Fleetwood Mac-ish, I Make Bad Decisions, Right Mama and the wonderfully austere ballads Cathedral Streets and How To Forgive but once they've done that then it seems it's time to move on.

And how Goodman County moves on, Anarchy in the Southern States picks up the cudgel laid down by the Sex Pistols and beats the banal and the mundane to death with it. It is as deafening an answer to corporate rock in the USA as Sweet Home Alabama was to Neil Young's Southern Man.

In fact, it appears that it heralds the band's first mistake on Dead-Ends and Transits. Placing Anarchy In The Southern States will surely cast everything that follows in the shadow of a rock 'n' roll hurricane.

But, as you arrive breathless at Drugstore Wine which follows it, you find everything you could ask for, expect and ever want from a song freeze framed. It is a broken, bleeding track which twists your guts into knots. As an anthem for lost souls it would grace the aforementioned Neil Young's very best work. It is the unforgettable moment on a memorable album.

[...]

While much of Dead-Ends and Transits gives the impression that Goodman County are intent on cutting a swathe through Southern rock and having fun doing it, Slow Descent Into Sound comes from the heart of a band whose intentions and ambitions go deeper than merely seeking out the next good time. This is a marvellous introduction but there is much, much more to come from Goodman County.
-Michael Mee
-americana-uk.com - Americana UK

The sleepy burg of Clinton, Miss., where local alt-country rockers Goodman County’s second album "dead-ends and transits" was born, is a town of many contradictions. Home of Mississippi College, it’s a community where the influence of the Baptist church looms large. But it’s also a place where disaffected youth sneak beers at dusty dead-end streets, smoke cigarettes and gulp coffee on lonely nights, and make art and music dictated by their hidden longings and secret desires.

[...]

So it’s no surprise that "dead-ends and transits" opens with “A Good Man Has Come and Gone,” a hymnic interlude that begins with a sermon being read. The record then launches into tunes that cover a variety of themes, from forgiveness (“Sweet Jesus”) to suicide (“Goodbye with a .45”) to existential despair (“Crown of Tin”) to even anarchy (“Anarchy in the Southern States”).

[...]

Good thing then, that the musicians that are goodmanCOUNTY have the musical chops to give such lofty themes the proper heft. As their primary instruments, Cody Cox supplies lead vocals and guitar, Ryan Baucum plays lead guitar, David O’Gwynn plays the bass and Micah Helmintoller beats the drums, but that’s not all. Cox also plays a mean harmonica and organ, Baucum lays down some silky pedal steel, and O’Gwynn provides cello and Fender Rhodes on key songs across the album’s 12 tracks (13, if you count an untitled song included at the end of track 12).

[...]

The music on Cox’s songs evokes a variety of influences. Choice cuts include the Neil Young-esque ballad “Drugstore Wine;” the rocker “Goodbye with a .45,” which calls to mind Lucero; the reverb-soaked “Cathedral Streets,” which is similar in sound to My Morning Jacket; and the punky Replacements-style rock of “Anarchy in the Southern States.” One of the standout tracks on the record is Baucum’s “Lonely Boy,” a hazy, guitar-driven tune that evokes the lazy guitar pyrotechnics of late-period Dinosaur Jr. Likewise, O’Gwynn’s “Crown of Tin” is a zippy little dose of power pop, with some ironically dark lyrics: “We are altogether useless piles of lumber/Wet and worthless, bent and split.”[...]

-On The Record 1/19
by Carey Miller
Planet Weekly Editor - Planet Weekly