Any River

Description

Ten years ago, three employees of J's Market and Cafe became the Styrofoam Winos. Lou Turner, Trevor Nikrant, and Joe Kenkel bonded over their shared passion for Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, and dollar-bin country records. After a friend who had left behind a drum set moved away, the three Winos learned to play it. Their early collaborative writing emerged from jam sessions and erasure poetry: they blacked out words in old books to create new poems. They all sang lead and regularly swapped instruments. Their first encounter with Michael Hurley (aka Snock) left a deep impression on them and was a true source of inspiration for the band. Years later, Snock himself gave the Winos his blessing to release their cassette of covers of his songs. The Styrofoam Winos have always gone with the flow, making Any River a perfectly fitting title for their new album, which follows Real Time (2024). Their playful approach is bolstered by the talent of seasoned musicians who have played hundreds of shows together and on tour with Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band, MJ Lenderman and the Wind, as well as solo. When three talented people develop such chemistry, the result is simply majestic. Every track on Any River was born from improvisation sessions in Turner and Nikrant's personal studio, and a shared Google Doc with lyrics quickly followed. They recorded in Louisville with Jim Marlowe, a Roadhouse member and the genius behind Equipment Pointed Ankh. Marlowe's understated production allowed the band's unique synergy to shine fully. The band strikes a perfect balance between reverence and irreverence toward the musical traditions they explore. Their knowledge of the repertoire is scholarly, yet always tinged with humor. No moment on the album illustrates this better than the trumpet solo on "New Friend": it's a virtuosic performance, but the way Kenkel dips below the tonic before resolving the final notes of the solo is simply hilarious. Live, he plays the solo note for note on kazoo while playing drums. This is the music of unclassifiable virtuosos, defying easy categorization while remaining instantly recognizable.