Review: Austin Lucas - Putting The Hammer Down

Posted on 19 July 2008 | No Comments

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Americana

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I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately. For some reason I’ve been listening to (and really enjoying) a lot of country, bluegrass, and other music that could be categorized as “high and lonesome.” You know, Flatt & Scruggs, Old Crow Medicine Show, Dock Boggs, Hank Williams (SR. and III), and more. It should then probably be no surprise that I’ve also been enjoying the latest from Austin Lucas.

Lucas is another in the long list of of punk-gone-folk artists like Chuck Ragan, Tim Barry, Rocky Votolato, etc… and his latest album Putting The Hammer Down is full of some wonderfully downtrodden and sorrowful country music that sounds as if it floats just beneath the low-hanging fog that often blankets the Appalachian foothills. Lucas’ voice is fragile, flailing, and easily the most recognizable trait his music exhibits.

Having played in grind and crust bands for some time, Putting The Hammer Down may seem like a big departure for Lucas, but his father, Bob Lucas, has been doing this sort of stuff for years and even contributes banjo, fiddle, and guitar to Putting The Hammer Down. Austin Lucas heads to the hills and doesn’t look back with music that is more old-timey and bluegrassish than anything resembling rock music.

Eschewing the direct simplicity of hardcore and punk, Putting The Hammer Down is more complex than just one listen might reveal. Not as easily accessible as much of what many of his punk-gone-folk contemporaries are doing, Putting The Hammer Down is often sparse and haunting but also warm and intimate. Great stuff.

MP3 | Austin Lucas – Man Alive Putting The Hammer Down
MP3 | Austin Lucas – There’s Always Someone Tougher & Meaner Putting The Hammer Down