“Scorchers burn on new album”

Jason and the Scorchers / “Clear Impetuous Morning” / Mammoth

By Rex Gambill, Times Staff Writer, Valdosta Daily Times, Valdosta, GA
Friday, October 11, 1996

Copyright 1996 - 2004 - Valdosta Daily Times

In the wake of a flood of records compiling keyboard-driven singles of the ‘80s, it’s easy to forget that bands like Jason and the Scorchers were also born out of that Reagan-era milieu.
Formed in 1981, Jason and the Scorchers quickly caught the attention of college radio listeners and critics (who labeled their firebrand music “cow punk”), but record sales didn’t do justice to the band’s talent and individuality. Disillusioned with the industry, the band split up after their 1989 album “Thunder and Fire”.
Last year, the group re-formed and signed to a more sympathetic label, emerging with the strong album “A Blazing Grace”. Now, with “Clear Impetuous Morning”, Jason and the Scorchers show little sign of letting go of their trademark cow punk sound, even as they experiment with different styles.
The first half of “Clear Impetuous Morning” is vintage Scorchers, as the band tackles familiar lyrical topics such as love triangles, the opposite sex and just livin’. Lead singer Jason Ringenberg’s lyrics elevate these songs to a higher plane, infusing everyday topics with meaning, whether it’s a song like “Uncertain Girl”, which describes the end of a marriage (“The wreckage left a bitter taste/Divide in half the pile of total waste”) or “Cappucino Rosie”, which is told from the perspective of a man controlled by a domineering woman (“Went straight from ‘hello darling’ to way the hell too far”).
As always, the Scorchers shift effortlessly from rock to country stylings, often within the same song, as on “2+1=Nothing”, where they go from a crunching guitar riff reminiscent of the Clash to a fast country rhythm on the chorus.
But somewhere about halfway through, Jason and the Scorchers’ new album hops the curb of what could be called the Hillbilly Rock Highway. The band’s duet with country songstress Emmylou Harris, “Everything Has a Cost”, finds the Scorchers abandoning their frenetic electric-guitar assault for a more laid-back, acoustic feel.
Surprisingly, Jason’s voice, usually yelping and hiccuping its way through a honk-tonk thrash tune, is softened here, and Ringenberg actually sings with Harris. This song, along with the two album-closers, “Jeremy’s Glory” and “I’m Sticking With You”, find the band mining a folk vein, and just as effectively as anybody else.
Co-produced by Scorchers Warner Hodges and Jeff Johnson, “Clear Impetuous Morning” is the best album this band has put out in 10 years, and well worth the attention of record-buyers bored with “New Country” or the pabulum in the pop Top 40.

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