**** The
Loud One returns, delightfully self-involved as always.
What if the tables were turned and it was trendy downtown LA that was under military attack instead of the dusty streets of Baghdad? It's just the kind of biting fantasia that would inspire Loudon Wainwright's imagination, and it does just that on the title track to his latest disc. But the bombing of the Miracle Mile in his adopted hometown is just one of the trademark territories he visits on this fine new disc. As can be expected from the Bard of Himself, Wainwright’s love life, family and personal demons are excoriated with sensitivity and wit, most effectively on “Half Fist”, a moving consideration of the namesake grandfather he never knew, and “When You Leave”, a lament of his picaresque ways. Throughout the disc a dream band backs him up, with Bill Frisell, Greg Leisz, David Piltch and Jim Keltner providing rich atmosphere and detail to his songs. - Tim Sheridan, Paste Magazine
As I looked at the credits on his new CD, Here Come the Choppers, my fear was that he might be buried in overblown arrangements. Fortunately, my concerns were unnecessary, though the lyrics are less obvious than a longtime listener might expect. Old Loud-o has learned to work to his strengths and the quartet of accompanists he employs for this recording is quite sympathetic. Americana-jazzman Bill Frisell’s Nashville sensibilities and the steel guitars and mandolin of Greg Leisz create a more laidback country ambience than that of Wainwright’s Westchester County urban folkie days. The song that most grabs your attention the first time through is “Hank and Fred,” a song written in Montgomery, Alabama, in which he tells of a visit to Hank Williams’ grave the day Fred Rogers died, linking the two while recounting the history and heroes of that southern city. “No Sure Way” takes the narrator on a New York subway ride that includes a stop marked “WTC:” “They say heaven’s high above us, hell’s not far below; in that subway tunnel, there was no sure way to know.” This time out, LWIII gives us few moments of outright hilarity, and an over-riding air of melancholy colors Choppers. There’s family commentary and history in “Make Your Mother Mad,” “Half Fist” and “When You Leave,” a happy celebration of a beloved grandmother in “Nanny,” and Loudon’s umpteenth dissection of love in “Had to be Her.” - by Jim Newso, Portfolio Weekly Iconoclastic singer/songwriter Loudon Wainwright III has taken about all he's going to from the Los Angeles Police Department and their helicopter surveillance program that haunts the urban skies. Here Come the Choppers is another collection of witty, acerbic tunes about ancestry, death, the perverse state of the nation and its culture, love and loss, and of course the whirring birds of the L.A. night skies. Wainwright is accompanied here by guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist David Piltch, drummer Jim Keltner, and pedal and lap steel master Greg Leisz, who also plays mandolin and electric guitar on the set. This is the same band that played with Frisell on his stellar Good Dog, Happy Man album. The proceedings are always poignant, and often funny. However, the most rewarding song on the disc is an elegy to the late Mr. Rodgers called "Hank and Fred." It's a moving tribute to the man and his "neighborhood" and places him in his proper place in the American cultural sphere, juxtaposing the day he died with a trip to Hank Williams' grave. It may read perversely, but the song is a gem, and one of the finest Wainwright has ever written. - by Thom Jurek, All Music Guide Loudon Wainwright III is one of those artists that you never forget once you hear him. His unique blend of storytelling pushed along with folk-rock-country melodies leave a lasting impression. Here Come The Choppers! continues to solidify Wainwright’s place amongst the greats such a singer/guitar playing poets such as Dylan and Eric Anderson. He has stellar accompaniment on the new release. Veteran guitar players such as Bill Frisell, who seems to be popping up everywhere lately, and Jim Keltner, whose name is synonymous with recording excellence, make the musical backdrop a sparkling tapestry for Wainwright to layer his distinct vocals upon. The more you listen to this album, the more the words sink in, and then the music becomes a logical extension of each individual story. As it all unravels before you, the pieces of the puzzle start to come together, musically and lyrically. Wainwright sounds as if he is singing about the real deal, life on life’s terms, straight up with no chaser to make it go down easier. Then again, artists like this do not pull any punches; every song is a tale of the heart, filled with passion, humor and the kid next-door kind of homespun down to earth feelings… Wainwright’s music always pulls me in and
makes me listen-it is very powerful… I love music like this and
Loudon Wainwright III restores my faith in humanity and music. - Keith
"MuzikMan" Hannaleck - www.muzikreviews.com His son Rufus and daughter Martha have been deservedly getting a lot of the spotlight lately, but there's little doubt that their father, Loudon Wainwright III, remains the family's most complex, magnetic musical character. Wainwright has been writing and recording since 1968, yet with the exception of the 1972 novelty song, "Dead Skunk," he's mostly operated under the radar, earning a modest but hardcore group of followers who view their guy as one of the best, most underrated songwriters of his era. You know what? They're right. Wainwright's primary appeal lies in his ability to lay out his personal failures for the entire world to see. And his latest album offers plenty to think about for those who've followed his life through his blatantly honest dysfunctional family sagas. He details the pains of a marital breakup during one of this album's best songs, "When You Leave," and other cuts such as "Make Your Mother Mad," and his amusing take on his grandmother, "Nanny," ranks with some of his finest work. With the help of a superb band, anchored by Bill Frisell on electric guitar and Jim Keltner on drums, the songwriter also branches beyond his family for some amusingly topical tales, including the terrorist-era title track that details an attack on Los Angeles and "My Biggest Fan," which chronicles the obsessions of one of his most devoted followers. - Newhouse News Service After the success of son Rufus, and now daughter Martha getting such rave reviews, it's nice to see that pops still has a little fire left in him. Loudon Wainwright has worn a lot of hats — actor, musician, husband, divorcee and father, but music was his first love and probably will be until the end, which is probably why his offspring have taken to it so successfully. Loudon, the son of a writer and editor, and descendant of American colonial upper class, began writing and singing folk songs in the 60's. He landed his first album, simply called Album 1 in 1970 and has since gone on to marry and divorce Kate McGarrigle (having Rufus and Martha with her), starred in one season of M.A.S.H., and has even appeared as the mayor of Spectre in Tim Burton's Big Fish. What people might not have expected from Loudon, even with his packed and varied résumé, is that he would still be making some of the best music of his career as he approached sixty years of age … Here Come the Choppers is the herald of the return of a songwriting master, proving to the world from whence came his kids' talent. With help from guitarist Bill Frisell, pedal steel giant Greg Leisz, bassist David Piltch and hugely accomplished drummer Jim Keltner, Loudon Wainwright III has created an album worthy of airplay, kudos and great reviews across the board. Wainwright continues to write witty and urbane lyrics, all to catchy folk/country/rock tunes that can't easily be pigeonholed. Here Come the Choppers is a consistent and balanced record, with doses of tongue-in-cheek humor without becoming parody, countrified backgrounds without becoming rustic, urban (and urbane) without getting too uppity. On this record, Wainwright toes the line of a handful of different genres and proves that he's still got it. “When the warm music wraps around the sweetly cockeyed lyrics of “To Be on TV” and “God’s Country,” it’s enough to turn the staunchest Wainwright skeptic into a believer.” –Performing Songwriter A MINUS -Robert Christgau, Village Voice |