Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, The Commandments According to SCAC (Scacunincorporated Records)
For 20 years now, this Denver oddity has been making picket-fence-toothed alt-hillbilly Americana that was ahead of its time, stuff that would have made great background music for Carnivale and True Blood and should absolutely be an integral part of Preacher. Their “southern gothic” trip of this Alternative Tentacles alumnus, visualized through a dark morass of punky religious imagery, is off-putting enough, while any last hope of gracing the Grand Ole Opry is instantly negated by lyrics that fixate on alcohol, violence and all that fun stuff. On this, their 10th (or 15th, whatever it is, after all the comps and live records, etc.), we receive neatly enumerated commandments, “Commandment 1” moving deftly through sounds that evoke Melvins mud, David Byrne freakouts, and, well, loping Amos Lee prettiness. “Commandment 3” gives us drive-by wagon-train ambiance that weds Carolina Chocolate Drops to the Eels, for lack of something handier to scribble down here — everything’s actually quite listenable, organic and not off-putting (that much). A