Bill Curry, the singer-songwriter behind North Carolina’s Red Star Belgrade, is pushing country-rock into some unexpected places. Telescope, the husband-wife duo’s third full-length CD in six years, lyrically travels some dark territory. Sonically, the group draws on influences as diverse as The Turtles, Neil Young, The Band and R.E.M.
Curry sings and plays most instruments on Telescope including guitars, keyboards, mandolin and melodica. Graham Harris Curry provides percussion and backing vocals. Bill’s vocals are delivered in a dry, almost monotone that generally is a good fit for his wry, often bitter lyrics.
In addition to the occasional guitar twang, steel moan and mandolin plink, country elements on Telescope include lyrics about drinking and relationships gone bad. “Dreaming ‘Bout You” is mostly acoustic with a little electric jangle, an ode to a doomed love affair and the emptiness of life. “Strum ‘n Rhyme” is a twangy shuffle about the same subject, full of Curry’s dry observances like “I tried to be just/But just ain’t good enough,” and “Songs and you are my only hope.”
“Nixon Stamp,” a pedal steel-driven honky tonk song that would be at home on any Neil Young album, examines the need for trust in relationships in the digital age, when anything and everything can be manipulated. “After the Revolution” is a darkly Gothic ballad of despair and loss of innocence. “The Bottle” is a chugging shuffle about a country singer on the way down: “In Nashville I was the Pope/or at least that’s how it seemed.” In case you have any doubts about where Curry’s heart lies, there’s “Uncle Tupelo,” another break-up song that name-checks many of the major figures in alt-country of the past decade.
There are also seething rockers like “No Pound,” that contains killer couplets like “Once the home of the brave/Now a fountain of greed.” And the anthemic “Highway to Hell,” that might have come from Levon Helms’ songbook but is of course an AC/DC cover.
Set like icy glittering diamonds in the middle of the album are two arresting numbers: “Long Cold Day,” an elliptical, piano-driven love song, and “The Border,” a first-person ballad about Kosovar Albanian refugees.
Red Star Belgrade, named for a Yugoslavian soccer team, has created a mini-masterpiece that defies easy categorization. This is literate, passionate music that rewards the thoughtful listener.
(Checkered Past, 2000)
