John Austin

Item: Busted At The Pearly Gates
Author: Dave Kerschbaum

Busted At The Pearly Gates

(2002)

Reviewed by Dave Kerschbaum

Discogs Bandcamp Apple Music

Label Serious Hip ProductionsThe Phantom Tollbooth2002

americana blues folk rock

It's been four years since John Austin gave us his masterpiece, If I Was A Latin King, a complete concept album which featured then-fiancée, now-wife Erin Echo on backing vocals and Bill Campbell's "basement wall of sound" guitars.

It may have taken him four years, but Austin has followed with an epic twenty-song disc, Busted at the Pearly Gates. Clocking in at an impressive 72 minutes, Austin has managed to assemble songs ranging from folk to blues to quiet ballads to straight-on rock without compromising continuity. He gets a lot of help, too; if Campbell and Echo's contributions provided skin for Austin's body of work on ...Latin King, a cast of over two dozen collaborators and Martin Kearns' brilliant production provide the sinews on Busted at the Pearly Gates.

"Roll the Stone Away" starts the disc. A polished folk-rock tune, this song features Jim Cullitan on mandolin and banjo, and a chorus that seems to want the listener to sing along.

The next song, "Cool Morning" is reworked from ...Latin King, with electronic keys and percussion. Echo's vocals on this and other tunes lend a lush quality that complements Austin's voice nicely.

Following is "Your Generation," a fun song that features Page Woldrop on pedal steel, as well as some clever lyrical turns. Here, Austin sings, "Who wrote your favorite song? / The one you want to make your own / I'll sing it with you / Till I forget the words," and then later, "Words fail ya / la la la la."

"Moonflowers" is a lush rock-opera-ballad a la Queen. On the chorus, Austin even nears Freddie Mercury's vocal range. The song is a beautiful ode to the night time (a theme Austin will visit twice more on the album), and bears hitting the repeat button and listening to in a room or vehicle with a good speaker set-up. Here, Austin sings, "We can make our own photosynthesis / we can start with this darkness" and "With your hand in mine / we'll abandon their sunshine...I'll meet you where the moonflowers bloom." With rich layering and dream-like lyrics, this song takes on a fairy-tale feel.

The Germans have a word for the sadness which is caused by comparing the ideal life with the actual state of the world. Weltschmerz seems to be a theme in "Yellow Moon" which has a deceptively upbeat sound. Austin seems to have fun with the meter of the lyrics as he sings, "Like a fat cat pawing at the field mice he has freed / like a flower pot laughing at the folly of a seed."

With "Good Money," we find Austin visiting country-folk territory as Mark Johnson lends his talents on resonator guitar and Cullitan brings a banjo to the mix. In this whimsical song, the singer tries his best to convince us and himself that he doesn't mind his long days of toil because "the money is good."

"I Don't Know You" is authentically bluesy and swampy, and features more clever turns of phrase: "To see her again he would give up his sight."

"Little Lost Gumdrop," a fun romp, features a subtle nod to "Lollipop" by the Chordettes.

"Moment of Silence" is, appropriately, a quiet ballad. Again, Austin's lyrical strength is showcased: "I lost a brother over there in combat training / he threw the pin when he pulled his grenade / and with only one second remaining / covered his ears before he was blown away...what would you give for a moment of silence?"

Busted... closes with two authentic sounding folk tunes, "East Virginia Blue," featuring Tom Gray's resonator guitar, and "Old Perfume." The latter is a sad song about the passing of our days without our grabbing hold of them. Reminiscent of early Peter Case, this song ends abruptly with the line, "Everybody has left the room."

Once again, Austin has given us a complete album full of musical inventiveness and lyrical genius, best listened to from beginning to end. Yes, Busted at the Pearly Gates was four years in the making, but as Austin reminds us in a song on the record, "these things take time." This disc is worth the wait.

5 tocks