Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables
From his opening rasp, Todd Snider channels Randy Newman. He wryly serves himself up as the town crier and gets down to business with a greasy blues that traces the history of inequality and touches on the history of religion. The Occupy movement might find its most caustic musical spokesman in Snider. However, he\'s not one to be easily characterized. \"New York Banker\" tells of a teacher who learns what happened to his retirement nest egg, but Snider unspools plenty of other stirring tales. \"Brenda\" is a love song for Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; it\'s based on Keith\'s nasty nickname for his lifelong pal and features a Richards-like guitar riff. \"West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown\" is done up as a gnarled cover of the Jimmy Buffett tune. Fact is, the *sound* of this album is raw and fantastic, reliant on Snider\'s rudimentary acoustic guitar, Amanda Shires\' hearty violin, and vocal harmonies that are rough and ready to take on all challenges.
Lest we forget, Todd Snider was a fairly divisive figure when he broke nationally in the early ’90s. With his indie-rock looks and sarcastic folk songs about his generation, he did strike some as a refreshing alternative to “alternative rock,” while others felt that he was awfully young and unaccomplished to be so…
Chocked full of songs about crooked bankers, the pleasures of recreational drugs, and the evils of organized religion, Todd…
Check out our album review of Artist's Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables on Rolling Stone.com.
Todd Snider is usually described as a singer/songwriter, but that description seems a little too tidy for what he does.
American singer Todd Snider's new album Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables is angry and funny.