No Covers

Hayseed Dixie launched their career with an album of AC/DC covers played bluegrass style, and twisted acoustic interpretations of other people's music have remained their stock in trade, but for their seventh disc, Hayseed Dixie have taken the plunge and finally made an album consisting entirely of their own tunes. While No Covers doesn't boast as many notable melodies as most of their previous releases, the band takes the opportunity to show off a distinct personality of their own for a change, and it serves them well. They indulge their fondness for hard rock with some big, electric guitar riffs on "Bouncing Betty Boogie," "When Washington Comes Around," and "Everybody Knows," but banjo and mandolin still dominate these songs, and the vocals from Barley Scotch (aka John Wheeler), who also wrote or co-wrote all 14 numbers, jump from full-bore howl to down-home twang with equal skill. Humor still dominates this disc, but Hayseed Dixie actually reveal a thoughtful side on No Covers, from the alienation of "Born to Die in France," the political and economic rage of "Trickle Down" and "When Washington Comes Around," the Southern rock love ballad "Secretly Stephanie," and the revenge saga "Everybody Knows." But longtime fans need not fret, Hayseed Dixie haven't lost touch with their goofy side, and the band's rarely sounded odder than on "Stonewall Hick" (punctuated with phone messages, most about bird feces) and "Donkeys in Morocco." For the most part, Hayseed Dixie are a better and more interesting band playing their own material than covering other folks', and while No Covers may not be a crowd-pleaser like their collections of AC/DC or Kiss faves, it rocks and twangs just fine and confirms these guys are more than just a novelty act.