OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW
Remedy
ATO Records
Fans of Old Crow Medicine Show didn’t have to hold their breath for too long when their string-band heroes went on hiatus back in 2011: The following year’s Carry Me Back assured that the Show would go on, and the band has been working steady and firing on all their wonderfully rustic cylinders ever since. The revered outfit’s latest, Remedy, holds up admirably when compared to anything they’ve done before, offering the perfect combination of barn-burners and genteel slow-pickers. The crew even bagged another co-write with Bob Dylan, as they did with their signature song, “Wagon Wheel” — though the country-gold of the new “Sweet Amarillo” wasn’t an accidental collaboration as “Wagon Wheel” famously was. “Mean Enough World” might be the quintessential OCMS tune, as it’s packed with a quick-tempo, train-whistle harmonica, quicker banjo, and old-timey lingo such as “quit your cussin’ and carryin’ on.” The waltzing, pastoral roots compositions are all well-crafted, but the porch-stompers steal the show every time. “Brushy Mountain Conjugal Trailer” is a wild, right-to-the-dirty-point tune and the fiery fiddles and drunken call-and-response shouts of “8 Dogs 8 Banjos” beg for anyone to dosey-doe with the person nearest to them. Just don’t call this a comeback: OCMS has been kicking grass for years. — KELLY DEARMORE
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