No Such Place

The broad term Americana, perhaps, best sums up Jim White's blend of Southern Gothic, Appalachian mountain music and modern production technology.

It's curious that as far back as 1999 David Goodman's Modern Twang directory included a preview of this album naming the title and some of the songs.

The intro of the intriguingly named 'Handcuffed To A Fence In Mississippi' has a lone banjo juxtapositioned against a big drum sound before evolving into an insidiously catchy song with a big chorus.

The songs cover stripped down tracks like 'Corvair' to the funkier rhythms of '10 Miles To Go On A 9-Mile Road' or 'God Was Drunk When He Made Me'. All reveal White's twisted but always engaging lyrical prowess. Many of the songs read like abridged screen plays. It's not for nothing that these lyrics are printed on the fold-out cover, like excerpts from some small town newspaper, amid details and reports of flying saucers. Life is, here, stranger than friction. "But when I have my judgement day and I lock my eyes with my saviour, well I'm just gonna say: God was drunk when he made me". Take nothing too seriously here, friends.

Jim White may be no great shakes as a vocalist, but then he doesn't have to be: the vocals are delivered like a commentary for a bizarre documentary and are perfectly suited to the music that underscores it.

No Such Place could easily have the same kind of crossover impact that Beck's debut had. It really is as good as that. Just don't call it alt. country.