Chuck Ragan – Gold Country

Effortlessly nudging all contenders to one side, acoustic guitar held aloft in victory, Chuck Ragan takes the crown of ‘absolute best in acoustic punk’. The man is champeen; simple as. It won’t take many spins of ‘Gold Country’, his second full length studio album, to have you nodding your head in agreement either. Put simply, this is the best album to come out of the US this year.

It’s an understatement to say that the acoustic punk genre has been flooded with talent in the past couple of years. It’s not even worth listing the notables (we’ve done that before), but you can’t help but think that it’s not going to be long before saturation point is reached. Let’s take the time then to bask in appreciation for the high end of the spectrum. ‘Gold Country’ is definitely at the high end. It’s 40 minutes of soulful, heartfelt, gritty emotion wrapped up in acoustic guitars, fiddles and that oh so husky vocal that has been Ragan’s signature since those Hot Water Music days.

The first thing you notice about this record is that it has a more ‘beefed up’ sound to it. The simply-does-it/no fuss sound that encapsulated debut album, ‘Feast or Famine’, is still present (check out “Don’t Say a Word” and “Done and Done”), but extra layers have been added, developing a much more sumptuous sensation. Additional musicians and instruments play their part in generating a ‘bigger’ sound in a not completely dissimilar fashion to that which Frank Turner adopted on his last album. “Cut Em Down” takes it a step further, managing to blend both the stripped down acoustic style with a big and booming chorus. It’s a campfire sing-along if ever there was one (and probably made for all you lumberjacks out there).

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the punk has taken a little bit of a backseat on this release. There’s a definitely more prevalent folk sound resonating throughout, as well as a nod in the direction of some good ol’ country. “Good Enough for Rock and Roll” is pure Texas country, whilst “Let It Rain” has a real wagons-rolling feel to it. This is an album definitely born south of the Mason-Dixon Line. In many ways it works as a perfect bedfellow to the album Side One Dummy comrade, Nathen Maxwell, put out two weeks ahead of this.

There’s nothing fancy about Chuck Ragan or his music. It’s about as honest as it gets, delivered almost nonchalantly yet undeniably heartfelt. ‘Gold Country’ won’t dazzle you with extravagance or pompousness; it’ll dazzle you with integrity, simple vision, and quite simply, 12 bloody good songs. Now, if only Ragan can be convinced to bring the ‘Revival Tour’ over to these shores…

Alex