Kentucky singer-songwriter S. G. Goodman was the last artist signed to John Prine's label, Oh Boy Records, during his lifetime. Her debut album, ‘Old Time Feeling' showed that his confidence in her was well-placed, delivering a welcome mix of country-folk and rock & roll. Her new album ‘Teeth Marks' delivers some of the same aesthetic, at times rocking harder, while digging deeper into personal issues and motivations.
With a warble that's been compared to Neil Young and Courtney Barnett, Goodman delivers strong lyrics that draw detailed, affecting portraits of life in the small-town south as a queer woman, and just how difficult that can be. In ‘Patron Saint of the Dollar Store' she goes into new territory, describing queer love and intimacy, something she has been unwilling to do, and which, given the environment she comes from, it's easy to understand her hesitance to do so. The song is touching, all the more so for her bravery in revealing herself to a world that has not been encouraging and accepting of who she is.
While sexual orientation is deal with explicitly on this album, it's only one of many themes Goodman handles with grace and lyrical agility. It's only one thread in the tapestry here, and it relates to the others in its depiction of that aspect of life in the southern, small-town setting. That's what connects it to the exploring of drug use, loss, and grief in the heartrending diptych of ‘If You Were Someone I Loved / You Were Someone I Loved' portraying a mother's grief at a child's overdose. This part of the album shared some thematic similarities with the work of Cincinnati-based Arlo McKinley's ‘Die Midwestern'; it strikes me that it's no coincidence that Cincinnati is just across the Ohio River from Kentucky, and these two are labelmates. (McKinley's second album comes out later this summer.)
This album rocks hard, but it doesn't ignore Goodman's roots. ‘You Were Someone I Loved' begins with a mournful a capella intro that's as haunting as anything I've heard lately. All of this sounds like it's pretty heavy, and that's not at all untrue — there's some serious stuff going on on this record, and it leaves you with a lot to think about. ‘Work Until I Die' is a blue-collar song if ever there was one. But Goodman is a catchy writer, she has a real gift for a turn a phrase, and she can fire of a real zinger when she wants to. Case-in-point: on ‘Heart of It' she sings, “Oh honey, why would you ever take that trip down South, I let you visit for free each time I open my mouth up.”
I enjoyed Goodman's breakout album but with ‘Teeth Marks' she has upped her game, sharpened her songwriting, and the sound, if you will forgive this pun that's just hanging too low not to grab to for, has more bite, It's good to see a promising young musician improving her craft, making art that shows growth and further potential to do even better stuff as she gains life experience and sharpens her skills.
Track list: 1.Teeth Marks 2. All My Love is Coming Back to Me 3. Heart Swell 4. When You Say It 5. If You Were Someone I Loved 6. You Were Someone I Loved 7. Work Until I Die 8. The Heart of It 9. Dead Soldiers 10. Patron Saint of the Dollar Store 11. Keeper of the Time Record Label: Verve Forecast Release Date: Friday June 3rd Buy ‘Teeth Marks now
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