Quality Park Records

Imagine Robert Pollard backed by Crazy Horse, or Son Volt sharing recording sessions with Archers of Loaf, or The Grifters bio-merged with The Silos and you begin to get where Centro-matic is coming from. Easily the most satisfying full-out rock album I've heard this year, this gritty, southern fuzz-guitar opus drips with lo-fi Rust Never Sleeps feedback layered like molasses over vista-wide stretches of open dirt road. Each track has a rawness that is bracing with textural beauty. Translated: It's as brutal as riding in the payload of a '72 Ford pick-up across a mesquite field on the way to your grandma's funeral. Some might call it alt-country, which would be a mistake since it sports zero hoedown potential. When these Denton, Texas boys slow it down for a couple heartfelt ditties you'll be reminded of Harvest, right down to Will Johnson's quivering, Young-ian vocals. The best thing to come out of Texas since the cattle prod.

back to Published in The Omaha Weekly Aug. 24, 2000. Copyright © 2000 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Rating: Yes