Two Cow Garage, Please Turn the Gas Back On

It is arguable that Two Cow Garage made a more significant contribution to alt.country than most of the peers the day they came up with their utterly inspired name. They weren't content with that, though, and their 2007 album is an stirring collection of songs, staggering from the punkish furies of "Youngstown, The City Of" to the knelling, desolate balladry of "Girl of My Dreams." The sound, dominated by the hoarse drawl of Micah Schnabel, seizes its animating spirit from the more raucous moments of Creedence Clearwater Revival, draws heavily upon Slobberbone as a contemporary peer, and in its more subtle moments recalls some of the more fragile moments of Wilco. This is a great record, by a fantastically unreconstructed group.