Of all the groups that have gone on record since Uncle Tupelo got the alternative country movement rolling in the early 1990s, this septet from Pennsylvania may come the closest to picking up where that group left off when it split up in mid-decade.
Frog Holler has a similar approach to the music, mixing fiddle-driven countrified numbers with distortion-laced electric rockers. It also boasts two singer-songwriters, Darren Schlappich and John Kilgore; the former has a warm, slightly rough and nasal baritone like Tupelo’s Jay Farrar; the latter more of a Jeff Tweedy-like tenor voice. Also, like the best of Tupelo’s songs, Frog Holler’s lyrics are an engaging mix of concrete and abstract, and are at their best when dealing with the hazards of love and the vicissitudes of rural life.
My first impression of Adams Hotel Road, the group’s debut CD for the Bala Cynwyd-based Record Cellar, was very positive. The record opens with the strong acoustic number “Least Most Wanted,” featuring flat-picked guitar, spare banjo figures and a very dry, dusty fiddle sound.
It follows with another strong number, the more electric “You’re Leavin’ Soon.” The dobro, electric guitar and fiddle play a catchy riff throughout this mid-tempo shuffle, which leads into the mournful ballad “Couldn’t Get Along,” which combines Tupelo stylings and Counting Crows vocals.
Kilgore’s numbers, particularly the up-tempo “Monorail,” are reminiscent of Tweedy’s loose country-rockers. “Two Things,” a shambling waltz, is another well-presented number, with a calliope-like guitar solo in the middle, and top-notch vocals.
Frog Holler draws on other influences besides Uncle Tupelo, including mope-rockers like the Red House Painters (“I’ll Tell the Cows”), Springsteen and the Bottle Rockets (“Overtime”), and straight hillbilly country (“Knee High by July”). This album works best when Schlappich is doing straightforward singer-songwriter material like “Drive,” a warm ballad about new love and an old car, with sparse guitar and fiddle accompaniment.
Frog Holler just oozes with potential. I look forward to seeing it develop.
(Record Cellar, 1999)
