Guttertown-The Shed Sessions; self-released via Bandcamp, 2024

 

When Disaster Amnesiac first arrived in Tucson it was pretty much immediately apparent that the city has a unique and self created culture. Also apparent was that it would take a stretch of time, possibly infinite (I commune with ghosts here easily), to discover the varied aspects of it. Still, I felt that shit deeply. In terms of the music of Tucson, there's just so much of it and it all seems to this observer to be connected in some vital way. Possibly it's a cliche to mention the physical traits of the Sonoran Desert and while they don't constitute all of stated connection's manifestation, they certainly have huge effects. Or, simple it get's fricken' HOT here and people have to continue to operate within the baking that occurs for months on end here. Then again, it gets pretty cold in January and February. Oh and there's the university here. And the Military Industrial Complex. And reservations. And U.S.A./Mexico border issues. And people who come here for non-snowy climates. This list is not exhaustive even. What Disaster Amnesiac is trying to convey is that Tucson is complicated and its culture evinces that fact. I've been taking in live music here for about four and a half years now. I've purchased media from Bat Population, whose tape sadly floated down into a box of other tapes and that box is in a closet and screw that. A CD of the incredibly impactful Suicide Forest remains in easy rotational access. There's an unmastered and very low quality cassette by some entity called Spit. Along with these artifacts there's this CD from Guttertown, 2024's The Shed Sessions. It was generously given to me by the band's bass player, Snoopy, at a show in early August of this year. I've listened to it lots, something that's easy to do, seeing as that its six songs flow well into each other within the groups paired down guitar/bass/drums configuration. The group describes their sound as Cow Punk and yeah that tracks in that Country and Country & Western elements are as much parts of the sound as any other possible stylistic components. These latter may be singer-songwriter, what has come to be labeled as Americana, Jam Band, Post Punk. Most likely the players within Guttertown have their own granular influences and guide posts and this prospect makes me happy, for having seen them play live their performance personas are very likeable to this audience member. Taking the focus back to The Shed Sessions: this album's songs share Minimalist cores of strummed guitar lines that sound well considered and amped, lines that are pushed by subtle bass riffs and drumming that is propulsive yet almost gentle. The band does indeed jam out within each of songs yet these jams are ones of brevity. It's often Snoopy who avails himself of these opportunities, probably a bit more than Jessie on guitar, although Jessie does not shrink back from them at times. Karl's drumming is never egotistical; his playing is all business and supports this music beautifully. The lyrics on The Shed Session's tunes are intriguing and insightful without being overbearing. The sense that Disaster Amnesiac has gotten from them is that they're hard won and really living based, and that's something that can't really be faked. Does Jessie travel the country on the trains? That question certainly has crossed my mind. The love lyrics that Jessie wrote often melt my heart. California Fault Line sounds so much like a Feelies song on my favorite Feelies album, at least for a few bars, and that's so alright with me (it's most definitely not a criticism) and probably the Feelies too and if not well fuck it. It's doubted that Guttertown are making millions. And, if they do, surely they'd be the first to acknowledge and make good. What Disaster Amnesiac is trying to say is that The Shed Sessions is such a cool album because of its simple, sparing approach and the earnestness that it shows. It strikes me as one produced with a lot of thought and caring and yet also an absence of pretension. Out there on those ground down streets of Tucson that means heaps it seems. Rock on Guttertown.