Uncle Tupelo's landmark opening salvo is the group's most rock-oriented
album, steeped more in breakneck speed, punk crunch, and guitar dissonance
than any of their subsequent efforts. Indeed, despite the presence of
mandolins, fiddles, and banjos -- as well as inclusion of the title track,
a faithful cover of the A.P. Carter classic -- the trio's vaunted country
leanings are less musical than thematic on No Depression, thanks in large
part to singers/songwriters Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy's acute depictions
of rural, blue-collar life. Like the Replacements -- never more obvious
an influence than on this LP -- Uncle Tupelo's songs paint grim, unrelenting
portraits of aimless Midwestern existence, split between days working
on the opening cut's "Factory Belt" and nights spent blurry-eyed
and wasted ("Whiskey Bottle," "Before I Break"). Still,
for all of the record's doleful cynicism -- virtually every cut nods toward
dashed hopes, broken promises, and paralyzing fear -- there's an undeniable
electricity afoot as well; by channeling the mournful clarity of country
into the crackling fury of punk, No Depression brings new life to both
musical camps.
(by Jason Ankeny, All
Music Guide)
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