Loose Cattle are inheritors of the progressive politics and compassionate humanity of folk and country truth-tellers past and present, some of whom have become friends: both Lucinda Williams and Patterson Hood guest on their debut for the mighty Southern indie Single Lock Records. The album ably takes on these weird American times with tenderness, rigor, empathy, and guitars.
The American band Loose Cattle didn’t attract a lot of attention last year with their album “Someone’s Monster”, but it’s an album that should be counted among the best alt-country albums of the year
I came across “Someone’s Monster” by Loose Cattle by chance, but the album made an indelible impression almost immediately. Loose Cattle is a band from New Orleans that consists of experienced musicians which can handle both alternative country and more traditional-sounding country music. The vocals on “Someone’s Monster” the band has the necessary vocal talent. The album by Loose Cattle is also full of excellent songs and is very expertly produced by John Agnello.
In the annual list of readers of the American online music magazine No Depression I came across the album “Someone’s Monster” by Loose Cattle. I follow the magazine that focuses entirely on American roots music closely throughout the year. It may have been the only tip that the annual lists of No Depression gave me, because I have become quite addicted to the album of the band from New Orleans, Louisiana.
“Someone’s Monster” is the third album by Loose Cattle and it is an album that fits into both the boxes of country and alt-country. but the band can also go in other directions and on “Someone’s Monster” also regularly shifts towards more traditional-sounding American roots music.
The band has a great singer in Kimberly Kaye, who takes the lead in a number of songs on the album. The other singer of the band, Michael Cerveris, also has an appealing voice and switching between male and female voices is one of the strengths of Loose Cattle as far as I’m concerned.
The band made musical friends with its previous albums, which has ensured that Lucinda Williams and Patterson Hood (Drive-by Truckers) contributed to the album. Musically, “Someone’s Monster” is a rich album. The sound of Loose Cattle is generally guitar oriented, but contributions from the violin, the lap steel, the pedal steel and the mellotron (!) ensure that the music of Loose Cattle sounds richer and also different from most music in the genres in which the band from New Orleans moves.
It provides a pretty full sound, but that comes out of the speakers really beautifully. It is the merit of the chastened producer John Agnello, who has been known as a top producer since the early 90s and now has a CV that makes you quiet for a while. A number of music websites focused on American roots music have already written nice words about Loose Cattle’s album in the past year,
The Fat Angel Sings 