Players:
Will Oldham – vocals
Grant Barger – bass, organ, acoustic guitar, vocals
Todd Brashear – drums, electric guitar, bass, lap steel guitar
Brian McMahan – electric guitar, drums, bass
Britt Walford – drums, electric guitar, bass
Released by Drag City
Early 20th century Appalachia is rife with American mythology. Old-time religions and isolated country living make for great literature, art and, of course, music. Today we have many musicians donning black vests, picking up a banjo and playing Gothic Americana. But before that existed as a well known music genre there was Will Oldham who rounded up a band and poured out his soul as if he was running his own tent revival. But he didn’t want to save your soul as much as to let you know that even a good church-going boy from the country has a soul as dark as anybody’s and probably an even darker one. The protagonists of the songs on
There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You are holy people who have fallen from grace by their own undoing. His voice whispers, warbles, and soars through these stories of God-fearing people who are not sure where they will end up in the afterlife but are painfully aware of their surroundings in this life.
'Idle Hands Are The Devil’s Playthings' opens the album with some lively spurts of a banjo which eventually picks up a tune that the rest of the band follows. Will’s soft voice enters and, as usual, quickly takes center stage as he sings upbeat verses about the dangers of Hell. It’s just an earnest warning and he stops often enough to let the banjo spread out on a happy riff. Here we have a young man who is brazen in his sense of salvation. He is either inexperienced in life, or lying.
'Long Before' possibly stars the same character – years later after his house, family and life has deteriorated maybe beyond repair. Quiet banjo, guitar, and bass accompany Will as he morosely recounts the sad details of his existence. While he doesn’t come out and say exactly what’s going on there are some vague sexual references (“Mama suckled you on her holy breast/ Mama’s breast ain’t holy no more / Long before we shared a short sheet/ O, long before/ I stood above you as you slept / I don’t stand above no more”) There is something wrong at home for sure.
'I Tried to Stay Healthy For You' is a drunken confession of a man who can’t be faithful. The banjo sounds like it is crying in its own beer along with Will.
'(I Was Drunk At the) Pulpit' is a long series of couplets sung over a repetitive guitar strum. The man talking seems to be a preacher who has made the drunken realization that his entire congregation is a bunch of hypocrites (“Well I sucked down a cupful and God shown within/ in a red earthen mask/ and I saw where I’d been was a palace of sin”). It makes him question his faith but at least he is reassured that, despite (or because of) his drunkenness, he knows God better than those fools.
The title track is driven by the full band complete with organ. It’s a dirge about…fishing? I’m not sure about that but the moody organ pulls the band along at a steady pace as Will and other vocalists wail along. 'O Lord Are You In Need?' is another cryptic song that sounds simultaneously lazy and urgent. Lo-fi slide guitar caps it off. 'Merida' is more upbeat and sounds like Will playing around the fire to entertain the family on a camping trip. The subject matter is a common theme for Oldham: short, dangerous love affairs. 'King Me' is another love song of sorts. What’s most interesting about this song is that it builds to a crescendo in which Will begins to recite vaguely dirty lines like a possessed revival preacher. You can picture him with his eyes closed, brow furrowed and arms raised as he says “Yes you have pulled my manhood into your corner/ If I could get up enough strength, enough will/ To pull to your side, I want you to reach into your reserves/ Top me off, tide me over, make me a man”. Next song is “I Had a Good Mother and Father” which is a simple ode to dead parents. It is a celebration of worthy souls that have gone to Heaven. Will sings sweetly and offers a bit of his version of yodeling.
'Riding' removes any doubt that Will’s characters have practiced incest. This is the epic song of the album, chronicling one man’s sins. “Who ya gonna ride with, boy? I’m gonna bring my sister Lisa” is repeated until you understand. “Because I love my sister Lisa, I love my sister Lisa, most of all.” He is also unrepentant. “Don’t ya know that’s sinful, boy? God is what I make of him.” He is also resigned to his fate. “I’m long since dead and I live in Hell. She’s the only girl that I love well. We were raised together and together we fell. God is what I make of him.” And he still hopes for redemption. “And all I have I give to Him. All I own I owe to Him. All my life I pledge to Him.” And all the while the band plays ominous Western sounds like we are about to see a shootout at high noon.
The final song is a lullaby entitled 'O Paul' in which Will sings kind reassurances to a dying family member. It’s a fitting end to the album. Paul will die but he will die loved and cared for. If only we all could be so lucky.
Will Oldham didn’t grow up deep in the forest in a log cabin isolated form the world besides his large family and local church house. But you can’t tell that from this album.
There is No-One What Will Take Care Of You is a surprisingly earnest display of creativity. Listening to it is like sitting on the porch of long-lost family members who live in a different world amongst thickly-wooded, strip mined mountains.
8.8/10