There is no “dabbling” on Lohio, no experiments in electronica, no guest appearances by MC anyone. This is a band that sticks to its guns. Lohio is a sleek slice of the American heartland.
The aforementioned “Donald Sutherland” starts as a gently twangy piece highlighting frontman Chuck Cleaver’s cracked falsetto. Then they launch into a chorus heavy enough to blow back your mullet. Like the bouncing “Black Dot” and the kick-up-your-heels “Only” (in which Cleaver offers to “be your Oppenheim”), “Donald Sutherland” is as quickly pleasing as its namesake.
Much has been made of Cleaver’s lyrical penchant for the slice-of-life vignette. The stories on Lohio are sometimes more cryptic than this may lead you to believe, but there are also plenty of returns to the streamlined narrative that has become one of Cleaver’s trademarks. In “Calendar Days,” the protagonist is shown X’ing the days off his calendar, wondering if he still exists in his ex-lover’s bottomless heart.
The slower songs are easily integrated into the mix. “Nothing Starts Today” is the perfect, wistful closer. “Dried Up” is a rootsy number that I’m not sure could be written by a band from LA or NY (credit Ohio for that one). Maybe it’s the lyric “You’re dried up like an August creek bed.” The singer wistfully remembers, at age 17, licking ice cream off his girlfriend’s chin. You can almost see the leaves change color as summer fades out.
Cleaver and bassist Randy Cheek are original members, and percussionist Dave Morrison and guitarist Bill Alletzhauser have been with the band long enough to have earned “veteran” titles. They’ve been together long enough to make an impressive album like Lohio seem effortless.
For more on Ass Ponys, visit http://www.assponys.org or visit the label site at http://www.checkeredpast.com
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