2023’s autumnal September November appeared to put the seal on The Long Ryders’ late-career comeback, one that had begun four years earlier with Psychedelic Country Soul, their first new studio album in over 30 years. Here were the forefathers of alt.country, peeling back time and reclaiming their turf in some style, despite the recent loss of beloved longstanding bassist Tom Stevens. But they clearly weren’t done. High Noon Hymns is a further testament to their enduring power, an assured roots-rock synthesis of American mores that draws deep from lived experience.
2023’s autumnal September November appeared to put the seal on The Long Ryders’ late-career comeback, one that had begun four years earlier with Psychedelic Country Soul, their first new studio album in over 30 years. Here were the forefathers of alt.country, peeling back time and reclaiming their turf in some style, despite the recent loss of beloved longstanding bassist Tom Stevens. But they clearly weren’t done. High Noon Hymns is a further testament to their enduring power, an assured roots-rock synthesis of American mores that draws deep from lived experience.
Continuity seems to be key to the band’s core trio of Sid Griffin, Stephen McCarthy and Greg Sowders. Regular producer Ed Stasium returns, as do Old 97’s mainstay Murry Hammond on bass and X percussionist DJ Bonebrake, reprising their duties from September November. The songs themselves range from ringing country-rockers to soulful ballads and varying shades between, thematically weighted between reflection and renewal. “A Hymn For The City Of Angels”, for instance, finds Kentucky native Griffin paying tender tribute to Los Angeles, scene of his formative musical days in the late ’70s: “Home to all those dreamers, drifters and the aged/Young in all their colours…” Similarly, “How Do You Want To Be Loved?” traces a romantic journey from youthful soundtracks of The Go-Go’s and the Stones to the present, the fire still glowing despite being “not as young as we used to be.”
But High Noon Hymns also faces forward. Griffin’s “Four Winters Away” proposes a toast to the future, one where the current incumbent of the White House is consigned to history, leaving the rest blessing their luck and counting his sins. McCarthy’s midtempo “World Without Fear” takes a broader view of societal ills (“It takes a lot of love in a weary world”), underscored by the snapping, scornful “Down To The Well”. But it’s the album’s sole cover, a full-hearted version of Dylan’s “Forever Young”, that perhaps embodies the album’s indomitable spirit and righteous vigour.
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