MISSOURI & JUKEBOXES

Tony Peyser
Mirror contributing writer

   If you want hear one of the best alt-country groups in the country, check out the boys from Springfield, Missouri who call themselves Hadacol. I wrote about Better Than This, their sizzling debut album, over a year ago. Truth be told, All In Your Head is even better than Better Than This. There’s some big time twang in the opening track, “Down Again,” and more of same in their hard-driving cover of the old chestnut “Little Sadie.”
   But this new Hadacol effort also has other notable shadings. The down home feel of “Another Day” is a charming depiction of small town life: “Grandma sits on the divan/With the remote in her hand/While the Cardinals play every Sunday afternoon … ” In the quiet “Already Broken,” they’ve created an instant classic about busted romance with these few lines: “You can’t break me/I’m already broken.” A law should be passed to put this song in every barroom jukebox the way Gideons place Bibles in hotel rooms.
   I was also incredibly touched by “Libby’s Tune” about trying to not let life’s good things slip away. As good as the lyrics are here, the melancholy, drifting-downward melody (punctuated by slightly mournful harmonica playing) perfectly evokes a sense of impending loss all on its own. “Libby’s Tune” shows a maturity and growth for both the band and crackerjack producer Lou Whitney. Sophomore slump is not spoken here and I’m hopelessly hooked on Hadacol.
   As it so happens, I’m also hooked on Choose Your Fix, the debut CD by Jukebox Junkies. Marc Dauer is the main force behind the band and was in the well-reviewed Five Easy Pieces whose first effort was produced a few years back by T Bone Burnett. Dauer’s picture in the CD booklet in a kind of cowboy hat is misleading. He looks like a guy who’s ready for a residency gig at an Austin club but this is roots rock, not alt-country. In fact, you could call it alternative pop or power pop. Whatever the hell you call it, you’re going to like it and play it a lot. The songs chart a journey of wishing and wanting to believe in things but also knowing you can get caught in life’s undertow or have a hell of a time dodging various wrecking balls. (In that one sentence, by the way, I’ve referenced four songs from the CD.)
   You know how you sometimes drive past somebody’s car whose windows are down and a really cool song is playing loud enough for you to hear that just hits you where you live but the guy drives off before you can ask him what it is? That’s how Dauer’s album feels. Luckily for you, I’m not speeding away and leaving you in the dark. This lyrical album is by Jukebox Junkies and it’s called Choose Your Fix.
   Miles Of Music has it for just $10.00 and they also have Hadacol’s terrific All In Your Head for $13.50.
   The Goofy Band Name Of The Week is … Smells Like Flan.