Cold Satellite
Album: Cavalcade
Label: Signature Sounds
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.coldsatellite.com

After releasing a handful of sparse, stark solo albums (the latest being 2011's Horse Latitudes), Wisconsin singer/songwriter Jeffrey Foucault, inspired by a bunch of snippets of poems handed to him by writing partner Lisa Olstein, chose to widen his sound envelope by (in effect) getting together his own rock band, Cold Satellite, to fashion raw gems from that material (OK, that sounds like a contradiction in terms, sure). The band pedals a gutsy brand of forthright midwestern Americana laced with pedal steel, accordion, organ, and electric guitar (like a more inward-textured Crazy Horse perhaps, some critics have mooted).

Cavalcade, the band's second record outing, at times takes this brand further out into rock territory than its eponymous country-rock-inflected predecessor, and provides a particularly muscular example of this approach, seriously kicking headlong driven ass on the first couple of tracks before settling down to a compelling slower pace for the decidedly Stones-(Wild-Horses)-vibe of Cavalcade itself.

There's further echoes of the Stones (this time more the Exile On Main Street era) on Silver Whips, Careless Flame and the blazing-guitar thrills of Elsewhere, whereas Pearlescent's burning guitar textures border on garage-psych and the swaggering Tangled Lullaby recalls the punchier side of Steve Earle's work; after which, a closing respite is provided by the more plaintive Every Boy, Every Blood. Here, as on the quieter and more tender organ-infused climate of Glass Hands, the comparatively limited texture of the chosen backdrop allows for concentration on the lyrics, whereas more often these are partially obscured by the sheer force of the rock backings, which will be a bit of a downside for some listeners. Not all of the settings quite work, in other words - but at least you can judge for yourself by consulting the Cold Satellite website.

By the way, Cavalcade's release was timed to coincide with the 1st May publication of Little Stranger, the new book of poems by Lisa Olstein, at Copper Canyon Press.

David Kidman