CD Review: Robert Earl Keen "Farm Fresh Onions" (Audium)

Robert Earl Keen "Farm Fresh Onions" (Audium)

Keen's latest is a varied affair, adding more rock and modern psychedelic 
touches to his basic country, folk and blues. One can applaud Keen for his 
willingness to stretch out, even if the results aren't always successful. 
The opening trio, "Furnace Fan," "All I Have Today" and "Out Here in the 
Middle" cut a rootsy line between the organ-and-guitar sounds of The 
Wallflowers and Chris Knight, and the Texas dancehall rowdiness of Jack 
Ingram. Shawn Colvin guests on the last of the three.

> > From there, the album takes several twists and turns. In some cases, Keen's 
singing is simply outpaced by his songwriting. His thin voice finds a 
surprisingly good fit for the funky "Floppy Shoes," but the straight-ahead 
blues "So Sorry Blues" could use a voice that's either richer or more 
convincingly world-weary. The lengthy "Train Trek" suffers from a laid-back 
vocal that is overshadowed by the electric guitars. In contrast, the 
mournful "Famous Words," nicely plays Keen's voice against a solo, 
highly-reverbed electric six-string.

The album's title track throws a kitchen sink of styles at the phrase "Farm 
Fresh Onions.". Think of The Hombres "Let It All Hang Out" strained through 
1970s Canterbury progressive noodling, garage psych organ, "Dark Side of the 
Moon" styled backing wails, and a funky undertow. The kitchen sink is 
revisited on the album's hidden track - a punk-rock meets rockabilly 
extension of the title track. More straight ahead, and most satisfying, are 
the acoustic narrative "These Years" and the closing ballad "Let the Music 
Play."

Fans of Keen may very well enjoy this album - in part it lives up to the 
song quality for which he's most known. But given the hit-and-miss quality 
of the productions, it's hard to imagine this will be the album his fans 
grab from the shelf for a fix of Keen's music, and it's certainly not the 
album one would use to introduce the artist to friends.

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