Formed in 1985 from then members of L.A. based punk and rockabilly bands X and the Blasters, respectively, The Knitters on paper would seem to be an odd bunch to be playing folk music. Although not purist by any stretch of the imagination and carrying with them electric guitars as well as acoustic, and also indulging in honky tonk, country and western, and bluegrass stylings, The Knitters nonetheless have tradition on there minds. Equal parts Carter Family, Hank Williams, Johnny and June, and folk traditionalist The Weavers, who’s name gave them there own, The Knitters play this American music straight and true, with just enough freshening up and electrified flair to keep things interesting for the times we live in. Hence the title of the album. And if you think three punk musicians and two rockabilly players from Los Angeles could never possibly understand this kind of music well enough to not make a blasphemous mess of it off hand, well think again, as this record shows that the bands first now classic album from twenty years prior, “Poor Little Critter On The Road”, was no one off fluke. Making good use of a few X standards, a couple of Dave Alvin and John Doe written cuts, and several traditional/country covers “The Modern Sounds Of The Knitters” is a spirited folk music workout with a good dose of country and bluegrass thrown in to season the pot. And the players are not the strangers to this music as one might think. Quite the contrary, they are actually old pros at the game, having roots in the midwest and the deep south before heading out to California to make music in the late seventies Los Angeles punk and rockabilly scenes.
After a noirish thirty-two second instrumental intro the album gets off to a bouncy start with an electrified version of the old Flatt and Scruggs bluegrass tune “Give Me Flowers When I’m Living” and it’s fairly clear from the outset the players have high regard for this music, as they do a fine job of updating the tune rather then trampling all over it. Singer Exene Cervenka’s plaintive, thin voice is perfectly suited for this kind of song, and far from the way she has to strain and stretch to belt out those noisy X songs, in this setting her voice simply relaxes into the easy flow of the music. Taking turns at the mic for the next track just as they have thousands of times before in performance for their alter ego band X, the John Doe penned “Try Anymore (We Don’t Even)", with lyrics like “ I went out a fishing yesterday / Seems like everything I hooked just got away / Those damn fish are just like my life / They swam away just like my wife”, fits right in here among the old and newer covers alike.
Taking a swipe at an X tune just for kicks from the sound of it, the old punk standard “In This House That I Call Home” is taken for a ride around the block, upright bass, rollicking drums, and Johnny and June Carter inspired vocals falling behind guitarist Dave Alvin’s twangy Telecaster guitar work. The band maintains the energy (if not the blistering tempo) for the next cut, the original bluegrass flavored tune “Dry River” and the honky tonk inspired late ‘80’s Cervenka penned X song “Skin Deep Town”. A funny song about the shallowness of the spring break Ft. Lauderdale crowd, Skin Deep Town twists and turns like a hot summer wind as Doe and Cervenka wail away just like two hilbillys at a hootenanny before slowing things down considerably for the old Stanley Brothers country/blues of “Rank Stranger”. Perhaps the stand out cut of the entire album, this lonely and sorrowful tune rises and falls in the graceful vocals of Doe and Cervenka, and the sound is not one of old punks trying on a new hat, but of seasoned performers who once again, understand and respect these old tunes of Americana. Doe’s smooth, strong tenor and Cervenka’s lonesome, heartbroken, and sweet vocal delivery are perfectly matched for one another, and it’s easy to hear why the work they did in their previous “city band” was so unique and compelling.
After the funny and slight nostalgia of “The New Call Of The Wreckin’ Ball”, a somewhat unnecessary take on the groups twenty year old “Call Of The Wreckin’ Ball” that appeared on their first album, we’re back to the covers where we are treated to the traditional country stylings of Jimmy Driftwoods “Long Chain On” and Porter Wagoner’s ode to having a good hard drinking time “I’ll Go Down Swinging”, with Ms. Cervenka nailing the spirit of the song dead on, being no stranger to the hard drinking life herself. Turning to yet another X original next, the band run through a spot on honky tonk version of the 1985 single “Burning House Of Love” before closing things out with a tender and compassionate rendition of the late 17th century ghost tale “Little Margaret” and a loud, electric folk version of the old Steppenwolf classic “Born To Be Wild”. Which has the sound of not one barn burning, but two barns a blazing, at least.
Surely not an album for everyone, but certainly an album for the more musically adventurous among us, The Modern Sounds Of The Knitters takes what was old and helps to make it new again, and takes what is new and gives it an old time, hard charging feel. Not so much an electrified folk record as a recording that is alive, this is what one might imagine this music would sound like recorded by a 50’s or ‘60’s folk combo not while in the studio, but outback at some wanton hootenanny where the men are out for a good time, the women are out for a little dancing, the band is charged up for a Saturday night, and everyone has had just a little too much whiskey from the jug. And it’s certainly a rollicking good time for anyone who dares to do a little two step, have a little drink from the 'ol whiskey jug themselves, and go along for the ride.
