Greg Graffin, Cold as the Clay - 36m 10s

Tracks & Durations

1. Don't Be Afraid To Run	4:12
2. Omie Wise	3:53
3. Cold As The Clay	3:19
4. Little Sadie	2:35
5. Highway	2:34
6. Rebel's Goodbye	3:52
7. Talk About Suffering	3:36
8. Willie Moore	3:56
9. California Cotton Fields	2:32
10. The Watchmaker's Dial	2:30
11. One More Hill	3:02

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Review

He's both a PhD and a punk rocker. Is it any wonder Greg Graffin would release an old-timey folk record? Clearly, the Bad Religion cofounder is a man of many dimensions. As he explains in the liner notes, this one has long been part of him. He grew up with roots music and has always written songs that can be performed sans electricity. Of the 11 on the Brett Gurewitz-produced Cold as the Clay, five are originals and six are traditionals. It isn't always easy to tell the difference between the two, since Graffin avoids genre staples, like "John Barleycorn," opting instead for more obscure entries, like "Omie Wise," a relic from his Midwestern childhood (Graffin moved from Milwaukee to LA when he was 11). As with Omie, who is drowned, few of the protagonists make out well: Sadie ("Little Sadie") is shot, Willie ("Willie Moore") dies of a broken heart, etc. With an assist from the Weakerthans and the incomparable Jolie Holland--and instruments like harmonica, banjo, and fiddle--it's a given that Cold as the Clay won't appeal to all Bad Religion buffs. It is, however, a logical next step after Graffin's intimate, decidedly un-punk American Lesion solo project. Also recommended to fans of O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Bruce Springsteen's We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. --Kathleen C. FennessyAt first listen, Graffin's record may seem a world apart from his punk rock roots as singer and founding member of Bad Religion. But the classic American music he pays homage to here forms the backbone of Bad Religion's epic tales of the young and the poor, mired in misery, poverty, and spit. "Cold As The Clay" honors traditional folk music with original rock compositions that draw inspiration from the folk-rock of Gram Parsons and Neil Young. The album was recorded and mixed in seven days, capturing the authentic sound of musicians gathered around a single microphone. The result is a vivid, intimate recording that makes you feel as if you're sitting in a pine-floored cabin, listening in to haunting tales of the hard luck that lives around you.

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