There have been a ton of covers albums this year, many of which we’ve already talked about (Headless Heroes, Condo Fucks).  While Matt Krefting’s I Couldn’t Love You More (out June 16th on Ecstatic Peace) is another album composed solely of songs written by others, it’s a bit different than many other albums of the same stripe.  Principally, Krefting himself acknowledges that there aren’t any radical reworkings here; his version of “Sip the Wine,” for instance, doesn’t sound all that different from Rick Danko’s.  Where other artists are often about stamping a tune with their own thumbprint, Krefting is comfortable with keeping the tunes much like they were originally.   (I’m thinking of the model of cover espoused best in a track like The Clash’s take on “Pressure Drop,” maybe.  You know that’s The Clash; it has an obvious relationship to the Toots and the Maytals original, but it’s clearly not Toots.  That Headless Heroes album was about making old songs new in the same sense, but kind of taken to the nth degree.  Krefting is not shooting for that model.  Condo Fucks and, to a lesser degree, Phosphorescent (and maybe that Vetiver covers album from a few years back) seem to roll in this more conservative mode, but Krefting probably hews the closest to the “not screwing around too much with good songs” ethos.  This is a long parenthetical and I’m sorry, it just seemed like an aside.)  The principal risk in sticking close to the original is that it assumes that the originals were good to start with and that they’re not so recognizable that the audience will revolt.  (You can’t cover “I Want to Sex You Up” for the first reason and  you probably have to change up, say “Thunder Road” for the second reason.)  Happily, Krefting has a deft finger in selecting songs that are both great and slightly outside of the canon; dude picked good songs to go after.

Krefting handles the vocals on the record, but he has a stellar pack of musicians hammering out the tunes behind him.  The name that’s going to draw the most attention is J Masics, who plays guitar on four tracks, the most impressive of which is the Zappa tune “Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up,” which he lays scorched Earth blues driven riffs over the top of for three minutes.  Krefting also relies on a trio of musicians from New England underground psych-rock geniuses Sunburned Hand of the Man and other folks that he’s played with over the course of his lengthy career in music;  throughout a few things are clear.  Principally, everybody in the studio knows what time it is; the songs are tightly arranged, executed and produced.  Less directly, though, is the feeling that everyone was having a good time putting this record to tape.  There aren’t a lot of upbeat tracks on the record, but everything is recorded with a certain amount of joy; even the tracks that are bummers are brimming with bonhomie.  In the same way that Krefting picked songs that he wanted to play, he appears to have done a solid job of picking people that he wanted to play them with.  That cohesiveness comes through; call me crazy, but I feel like you can tell when people are getting along, meshing with one another to get to a slightly higher plane (or, in a band like Wilco’s case, disagreeing so violently that you almost get back around to the same spot).

There’s a unique quality to the timbre of Krefting’s voice and it’s highlighted on more or less every track; this is a total cop out, but the sound of his voice is tough to describe (Especially given my lack of a certain specific musical vocabulary.  Full disclosure: I don’t really know what  a tenor is.)  He’s alternately forceful and delicate; there’s a kind of warble going on that isn’t overt, but gives the sound a touch of frailty.  In any event, it works throughout.  A song like “Things Have Gone to Pieces” works perfectly for his voice; he absolutely gets after the notes that stretch out a bit, and he affects the right attitude of slightly sneering heartbreak.  That track’s got some great bar room backing vocals and certainly does the George Jones’ original proud.

Of the songs on the album, there weren’t a ton that I was deeply familiar with on the first spin.  (That George Jones track is an exception, because I have a country and western loving uncle.  The Danko track was also familiar from its appearance in The Last Waltz.) The song selection, as described above, sticks to the relatively obscure for the most part; the album closes with a great Jerry Garcia song, “To Lay Me Down,” that’s nicely delivered with some spacey effects and a killer slow build, but it’s a track that non-rabid dead heads probably wouldn’t immediately identify.  That approach seems pretty consistent; most folks recognize the names John Martyn and Bill Fay, but aren’t wildly familiar with their catalogs.  Much like the Condo Fucks record, that we argued might do a lot to shed some light on forgotten or neglected artists, the songs Krefting puts on the record ought to turn some folks onto some classics.  “John the Baptist” has some of the best lyrical content on record this year.  Seriously.  How good of a line is this: “If you see me smiling and you wonder why, you can bet it’s a private joke between her and I.”  Back that with how darkly funny the tune is  and it’s clever on about four different levels.  (“This is my friend Salome.  You can bet it’s my head she wants and not my heart only” is some funny shit.)  I’d not heard John Martyn’s original before listening to I Couldn’t Love You More. (I have since; it’s worth tracking down.)  Krefting introduced me to this song and I’m in his debt.

The ten songs on I Couldn’t Love You More hold a ton of treats; solid songs delivered crisply by good musicians always works for me.  Further, listeners are bound to have some similar experiences to mine with “John the Baptist.”  Unless you’ve got a PhD in modern music, you’re not going to know all of these tunes; one or two are going to be heretofore undiscovered gems.  In other news: it’s a half hour of music without a song that you’ll want to skip.  Krefting’s liner notes are also a good read.  The best advice contained in them: “Cherish the time you have.”  Indeed.  Grab this record and enjoy it.

“John the Baptist” – Matt Krefting

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