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03 08
21

Malcolm Holcombe

Filed in: REVIEWS — John Gjaltema @ 23:36

The sketches on the cover are again by Malcolm Holcombe himself. And beyond that, Tricks Of The Trade (Singular Recordings/Proper) feels familiar. That is, misery looms up behind just about every line of text. Misery Loves Company and Holcombe welcomes every tormented soul as a kindred spirit. Nice country song by the way. Lying types with pockets full of money populate the numbers. That results in a haunted song like Crazy Man Blues . The singer-songwriter wrote them in 2019. The president on Your Kin is a dictator. 'White people gotcaskets / Black people mass graves / Migrant farmers / Burned bodies no names', it sounds on Higher Ground . Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris form the choir. The songs are not cheerful. But fortunately there are people who have an eye for the misery. And make songs in which it rains a lot. Or just way too hot. Holcombe gives the losers a voice. And he makes the winners who jump on the money train a feeling of guilt, if they understand something of his lyrics. Jared Tyler on dobro, mandolin and electric guitar, Dave Roe on bass and his son Jerry Roe on drums.