Search - Tom House :: This White Man's Burden

Christ, liquor, retribution, redemption: The figments of No Depression's darker imagination, the world Tom House enters on his second release, makes for intense, challenging listening, despite the musically peeled-back settings. House's creaky vibrato sprays around mandolin, guitar, and trashcan percussion grooves, and the tempo stutters contribute to the engaging, primordial acoustic chaos. Other songs find their melodies, lovely country progressions like the a cappella "Pale Morning Light" and the lucid "Waiting on You," graced by the scat-twang vocal improv of Tomi Lunsford. The speedy slur of House's delivery occasionally obscures his intent: On the title track, however, the frenzied jeremiad is clear: "You know the worse thing, I've heard it said / a good man can do's let evil just take root and spread / and never raise his voice." Heady, wise twang from a striking songsmith. --Roy Francis Kasten