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DBT #265 Transit Damage - Shinyribs


Ok you all know that while I really love great storytelling in a song, sometimes I enjoy them as instrument highlighting a great groove; kind of like listening to Dr. John, Paul Cebar, or say Marcia Ball.  When I saw the Moccasin Creek Festival put out their first look at 2024's lineup, I noted Shinyribs was a headliner who I knew nothing about.  Their Bandcamp page describes this album as:

Just who is Shinyribs? It’s a sprawling nine, sometimes 10-piece cast, but ultimately it is the funky brainchild of Kevin Russell, who grew up in Beaumont, TX and Shreveport, LA, the cradle of the swamp pop and bayou R&B sounds that drip off his fingers like honey and hot sauce. Think Gulf Coast meets Muscle Shoals with strong pop-song structures.

Well if that doesn't get us to the festival, it at least got me to buy this July 2023 release.  Now I love to see what others have said about an artist that I don't know.

Americana Highways said, 

After several listens I’m pulling threads of Leon Russell, Dr. John, Prince & Captain Beefheart (from his “Bluejeans & Moonbeams” era). This is a broad-range showcase. And remarkably — it works

American Songwriter said, 

"Capturing the ensemble’s contagious, often humorous, and very visual (check out his flashy suits and the background singer’s coordinated moves) vibe in the studio has been more difficult. "

Boy I know of bands like that, even one of my new favorites Buffalo Rose is kind of like that.  They went on to say that this album is much more serious that previous releases.

Instead of the frivolous songs that dotted previous releases such as “Party While You Still Can,” “I Gotta Get Drunk,” and the sing-along “I Don’t Give a Shit,” Russell leans into more substantial fare. Songs centered around appreciating the good things in life (lead single, “All the Best Things”), or about a woman leaving her troubled past …running from that dark cloud / She’s breaking her chains, or, in the title track warning a friend that Instant enlightenment can look like genius—it’s always cheap and plentiful over a somber pedal steel led ballad dominate the album. And on one of two covers, Grant Hart’s tragic and touching “Pink Turns to Blue” about a woman’s death from an overdose, things turn pretty grim despite its catchy chorus. The earnest cover painting also captures a solemn side of Russell.

Wow, makes me want to get some of his early stuff in the collection.  One more review (yes there are a lot out there), No Depression publishes a great monthly magazine that my wife surprised me with a subscription, they talk about the producer and seriousness too:

Russell sounds a bit more introspective on this outing, due to the urging of Berlin, who encouraged Russell to include some of his original material he’d been holding back for years because he thought it was too personal. The title cut falls under that category, a soulful invocation to stop regretting what might have been and get on with your life: “So don’t go round feelin’ inferior / thinking you’re less of a man / People’s wisdom is meager / And they’re always eager to tell you they don’t give a damn.”

“Reconsider It” sounds like Allen Toussaint wrote it and Al Green’s trying on Dr. John’s gris-gris cloak to deliver it.

“Simply Belong to You” funks around like the Muscle Shoals Swampers second-lining down by the bayou while Russell tries to decipher how this love business works: “Love is helium, not the balloon,” he muses before deciding that, for better or worse, “In a world opposed to simply belonging / I simply belong to you.”

Now for some music.

1) Simply Belong to You

Love the bass line to open the experience, grab your lady and move.  I knew from the start, I would love this album.

The very thing that lifts the wing
And makes the meadow cling to the dew
Gifts to bring, songs to sing
Side by side until death do

In a world so opposed to
Simply belonging
I simply belong to you


Here he is live for a portion of the song, and yes he and Paul Cebar go to the same tailor.



2) Pink Turns to Blue

This one is all about a nice world beat, when in doubt nah, nah, hah


Yikes... I find like Paul Cebar, Shinyribs is also a master at recreating a song.  (Look up Paul's cover of Cohen's "Dance me to the end of Love")  I only found Husker Du videos for it.  I like the cover much better.  Here's my normal complaint, but why doesn't Bandcamp force the artist to put writer credits in the songs.  They are trying to clamp down on covers without licensing, so we know this is a legit cover.  
I found a reel about him talking about this song.  


And here is the original.


3) Dark Cloud

I love the groove change with the tack piano, the use of the backup choir, and the hook brass line that shows up as an accent.  Here he talks about the song being one about reinventing yourself.


4) All the Best Things

Now an electronic beat gets us going but once the groove is set it takes a back seat, to some more dancable music; kind of reminding me I haven't listened to Chicago much lately.



There were a couple of video clips from his live performance of this song.  I liked this one a little better; and what is that 8 string ukulele?


5) Transit Damage

The title track ballad busts out an acoustic guitar; and he imparts his wisdom obtained over the years.

For all you knew you had nothing to prove
Just a move and a groove and a new feeling
Oh, experience teaches the heart and
It preaches from the start of a mind that's
Grown uneasy
Your soul is slow from the things you know
But these people all just think your sleazy



6) Reconsider It

Now I hear the Leon Russell notes that were previously mentioned.


7) La Folie De l'Humanite

The madness of humanity (right is sounds better in French) is nice song that I bet he jams out on live.


8) Alphabeta

I love cleverness of the lyrics, here's a snippet.  (thank you for posting them in BC)  He said it was a funked up Alberta with word play.

Alphabeta let ya letter hang down
Let your C see the jewel in her crown
If a B don't buzz ya know
It's because there ain't no butter for her bowl
Alphabeta let a letter hang low

Let ya F get together with a K
Let your H hang out with J
Let your Z zig zag some more
But don't your D hit ya G in the door
Alphabeta let a letter get away



In this little three song set for a radio release show, "Alphabeta" is first followed by "Kind" and "Simply Belong to You"


9) Little Drops of Summer

Love how you can just slide along with this song into fall.


Here's a 28 second tease..



10) If Love is Earned

Of course he follows that smooth song, with a great groove, a solid earworm that could live in the early Motown days.


11) Kind

Oh the ender should be a gospel lesson, and he's just my kind.  For the video see the mini-concert attached to "Alphabeta"


So if I don't make the 7 hour trip to Moccasin Creek in June, this music will be on my mind and playlist.

Next blog steps:

- Stop over to the Review page to my other most spinned and loved albums.
- Browse the rest of the blogs by stopping at this "Theme Page."
- Enjoy Tune Tuesday which brings you one song from a past blog post.
- See what other post have been most popular recently with our Stats Page.
- Find out who in the world thinks he has the authority to write this blog in the About.
- Let me answer why you won't find the playlists on Spotify here.
- Finally, the Mission page explains why there is no advertising cluttering the page.

If you use Facebook, we have a page that will help you remember to read the next post.

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