Folk Family Revival
Water Walker
Rock Ridge Music
For their sophomore release Water Walker, Folk Family Revival- which is Lincoln, Barrett and Mason Lankford joined by Caleb Pace- starts off with “If It Don’t Kill You”, an ode to just how devoted you must be to flourish- “If it kill you, it ain’t love”, which places the bar mighty high, but the rest of the albums 11 cuts are it’s equal. FFR remind you of Crazy Horse with banjo, or the Replacements playing in a chicken-wire bar, and it totally works.
From the gentle beauty of “Sunshine” to the trippy “Dream”, which seems to float on a cloud with Mason’s vocals reaching us from a faraway land- are two examples of one side of the band, which evidently listens to the Dead a bit. Then you come to “Drunk Again”, which is a stellar bit of a Todd Snider-ish story song, propelled by a rolling banjo part and some nifty flatpicking on the guitar. “Marfa” captures the singer’s loneliness, subdued and wistful in East Texas, while “Cotton Dress” is an electric guitar driven number, very soulful with a great loping pace that belies the intensity of its message.
“I Found God” ends the record, because really, what comes after that? Its sleepy rumble befits the Revelation infused lyrics, full of dread and struggle, with great headphone sonic touches that keep you on edge and interested. In fact, Water Walker is full of such moments, a great record from a great bunch of players. Keep it up!
