Strung together quite literally out of the acoustic sounds of an old school Americana we don’t get to hear enough of on the mainstream anymore, Webster’s Wheel’s new LP Milk & Grass captures the Alabama twosome sounding more divinely in touch with the medium than ever before.
They break off rollicking melodies in “Country Peepers” as easily as they touch on softer rhythms in the likes of “People Around” and “Swooned Up.” In “Dogs Don’t Cry” and “Over There the Wind Blows,” the guitar sings parts that the vocals just can’t handle on their own, with the two voices between the string play gathering up just enough to issue a harmony no listener could soon forget. The instrumental aspect of Milk & Grass is as alive with expressiveness as any strand of lyrics ever could be, and although this isn’t a country affair by any means, the music in “Hollow Hands” and “Day Like Today” embodies a spirit classic Nashville acts once held quite dear. If you know Webster’s Wheel, you know they don’t skimp on quality when they hit the studio, and in this sense, their latest LP is in line with everything they’re produced to date.
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The chemistry that players share in the studio is more than enough the shape the very meaning behind a potentially controversial tune like “Love Ye One Another,” and this is a setting in which it absolutely does just that. When these two are connecting in a track, it’s as though we’re getting a sampling of what true musical democracy is supposed to sound and feel like in an ideal situation. All of this lyrical content, no matter how cosmetically provocative, is made to exhibit the best parts of what the traditional American folk aesthetic is really all about, which isn’t to say these verses can’t represent a deeper kinship with the meaning at hand at all. With no frills getting between the musicians, the message, or those meant to receive the material via this LP, we get to appreciate all of the barebones charms Webster’s Wheel have to offer us – and from where I sit, there’s a lot of it to be enjoyed.
The last album this pair released got my attention on the spot, but I think what they’re up to in this recent selection of tracks is far superior to both their previous releases and those their contemporaries have cut in 2021. Last year’s quarantine culture fostered a lot of curious growth on both sides of the dial, but as of this July, I can’t say that I’ve heard another folk duo sounding quite like Webster’s Wheel does in Milk & Grass. They’re authentic and lending passion to every verse they assemble in this LP, and as long as they keep steering towards continuous development in their poetic sensibilities, I doubt their momentum will do anything but get stronger as the year progresses. In short, if you’re a puritan folk enthusiast, this is an act that you need to be following very closely right now.
Claire Uebelacker