As if 16 Horsepower's studio recordings weren't beautifully intense and frightening enough, David Eugene Edwards and his crew have only done themselves prouder with their first live album, Hoarse. All of Edwards' self-exorcism and terrifying testifying takes on another level of vitality with a full club of fans hungry for 16 Hp's gospel-goth-alt-country-rock. If most concert albums are contractually obligatory filler, Hoarse is distinguished by its success in bringing new, more focused energy to an already evocative passel of songs. And most of those songs come from the group's earlier A&M Records catalog. Hearing oldies such as "Black Soul Choir" and "Low Estate" in these renditions just may spoil a newbie to the group on the original recordings (get the old albums anyway; there's a certain essential austerity to them, and it would be nice were the guys at least as popular over here as they are in Europe). The disquieting joviality and moral chastisement of "Black Lung" and "Brimstone Rock" are likewise cast in sharper relief here. Additionally, a smattering of inspired cover choices reveals the group's interpretive skills. Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Risin'" is made wholly their own. Joy Division and Gun Club pieces are played closer to the originals, but no less incendiary. Just as Flannery O'Connor said that Christ haunts the South about which she wrote fiction, so does the Lord inhabit the tableaux of 16 Horsepower's song-craft. And in a live setting, the spirit is delightfully scarifying.
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Ken Mueller16 Horsepower has finally released the live album Hoarse here in the U.S. The disc was first released in Europe on Glitterhouse Records. Checkered Past has stepped in to fill the gap on this side of the Atlantic. 16 Horsepower is one of those bands that everyone says you must see live. I've always enjoyed their studio albums, so I was anxious to hear this one, and I must say, it doesn't…Similar sounding releases
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