Johnny Dowd
Hell Or High Water (Nicole)
He’s in the removal trade, [a]Johnny Dowd[/a] – jacket embroidered with ‘John’ on
one side, on the other the name of his Ithaca, NY firm. Look at his hair,
however, curled into a greying quiff, or the see-no-evil shades, and it’s clear
you’re dealing with something a little less domesticated, a little more
dangerous. That blue collar hides the bluest heart, and this excellent single –
precursor to his third album – is the sound of a man garotted by the ties that
bind.
If [a]Lambchop[/a]’s Kurt Wagner were more of a wolf, or Nick
Cave less of a smooth-handed theologian, they might attack daily life with
Dowd‘s moonshine vigour. “When you work for a
living, it’s hard to stay awake”, he simmers on ‘Hell Or High
Water’, a testament to the tenacity of everyday love, while ‘Divorce,
American Style’ deals with the not-quite traditional story of coming home
early from work to find your wife in bed with your best friend’s wife. “You’re sweet, you’re gentle, you’re honest and true”, she
tells her husband, “but it’s boring as hell living with
you”. Clearly not autobiographical, then.
Other people’s furniture.
Other people’s lives. Moving in the oddest ways.
Victoria Segal