Slim Cessna's Auto Club - Jesus Let Me Down

After seeing Slim Cessna's oddly-named Auto Club tearin' it up a couple of weeks ago with evangelical fervor and sensory psychosis, I had to pick up some recorded artifact and decided on this 2-LP live set - seemed appropriate. Although looking like a crazed Appalachian congregation, the group actually hails from the exceedingly less exotic Denver, Colorado, making me wonder how the likes of singer Munly Munly goes about his day-to-day business in that modern hub. Adaptable, I suppose. In any case, experiencing the live show was reasonably transcendental and this is a fine documentation of their live madness.

The fold-out record cover contains innumerable photos and a multi-page booklet that transcribes everything that is said on the record - impressive! It is actually much more than that as it describes "The Live Tragedie In Four Acts" (the four sides of the album, natch) and, in their own psuedo-Shakespearian way, details everything that occurs, on and off stage throughout the show. It is quite clever and pretty entertaining reading on its own.

Even though this record is from 2005, a number of these songs are in their current set and are still performed with the same impassioned, wild wackiness. With two singers - Slim and the afore-mentioned Munly - guitar, bass, drums, steel guitar, keys, and occasional banjo, all using multiple effects (the waves of banjo feedback are especially memorable), the sound is full but never excessive and the vocals are generally given room to tell their tales.

Extremely difficult to describe, their sound is a mish-mash of innumerable influences: Gothic Americana, Country, Bluegrass, Blues, Gospel, Baptist church services, to name a few. Yodeling, talking in tongues, faux hillbilly-speak and early American folk tales meld with electronic feedback and modern effects along with vocal harmonies, call'n'answer melodies and wild theatrics. Then they will go back to straight steel guitar playing with Gospel tunes over it, before switching gears to fast paced, excessive noise in unison with church organ'n'banjo pickin' and then move from sad, steel-laden ballads to "Ghost Rider in the Sky"-styled numbers to upbeat vocal interplays to sonic waves (especially effective in the seriously dramatic semi-title track "Jesus Is In My Body - My Body Has Let Me Down") and always interacting with the audience with pious passion.

These cats have been knocking people dead for decades now - you need to be open-minded musically, but if you are, be prepared for a wild ride!