For many people, the word "Florida" conjures up images of sunshine, white-hot sands, and white-hot nightlife. That's not the Florida
JJ Grey inhabits. Sounding forth from his ancestral home 40 miles outside of Jacksonville,
Grey's Florida is inhabited by water moccasins, gators, and characters whose murky, besotted Southern Gothic pasts match the dreary, desolate landscape. On
Country Ghetto, his third album and debut for
Alligator Records (of course),
Grey and his bandmates revisit the hallowed but largely forsaken musical environs of
swamp rock. Taking their cues from early
Creedence Clearwater Revival and
Tony Joe White,
Mofro play a slinky, sinuous brand of Louisiana
soul-
funk-
blues, while
Grey himself alternates between the good ol' boy debauchery of
Ronnie Van Zant and
Lynyrd Skynyrd and the classic
soul entreaties of
Otis Redding and
Clarence Carter. There are highlights everywhere.
"Footsteps" quotes from
Link Wray's incomparable
surf stomp
"Rumble" before morphing into the dirty
swamp boogie of
"Turpentine." "A Woman" finds
Grey in pleading
Redding mode, complete with spot-on
Stax/Volt horns and swirling Wurlitzer, while the funkfest of
"Mississippi" and the gorgeous,
hymnlike gospel of
"The Sun Is Shining Down" showcase both the band's undeniable chops and
Grey's raw vocal prowess. There are a few missteps. The dirge-like
"On Palestine," another of
Grey's back-porch family stories, drones on a little too long, and the closer,
"Goodbye," limps toward the finish line. But those are minor quibbles.
Country Ghetto is a down-and-dirty delight, and a fine addition to the
swamp rock canon. ~ Andy Whitman