Music Review: Steve Earle And The Dukes, Terraplane

By Melissa Bratcher

Steve Earle has always had a genius gift for lyrics that relate the life of the working man, the wronged person, and the misfits of the world. On his latest album, Terraplane, he again explores those characters and inhabits them so deeply that taken as a whole, the album is like a collection of fully realized short stories with accompanying soundtracks.

Earle collaborates with his usual band the Dukes on Terraplane, which could best be described as a full-on blues album. There are different blues variations: the stompy front porch kind, the boogie in a bar kind, the ragtimey kind. Steve Earle and the Dukes keep it not-exactly-light but prevent their rhythms from being a same-beat-bar-blues and the whole album fairly fizzes with excitement.

Much of Terraplane is relaxed and loose. Opening track, the strutting “Baby Baby Baby (Baby),” kicks off with a honk of harmonica and a groan. Earle sounds like he’s having fun, and hits each “baby” with interesting nuance. His versatile voice is quite different as he inhabits the character that’s looking for a booty call on the cheeky “The Usual Time.”

The world weary, resigned (yet still passionate), “Better Off Alone” cuts right to the point. “Just don’t tell me you changed your mind and you’re gonna stay/Can’t tell you what I’d do then/’Cause I just can’t go through that again,” he sings, and you know he means it. It’s the classic struggle of love: knowing you shouldn’t when you want to. Self-preservation. Brain versus heart.

“Baby’s Just As Mean As Me” is a clever he said/she said duet with Eleana Whitmore (who has an interesting, lovely voice). There’s fiddle sweetness and a fine guitar solo. Again, Earle sounds so relaxed. It’s a charmer.

The standout track, “The Tennessee Kid,” wouldn’t be out of place sung (or spoken) by Tom Waits or Nick Cave. The spoken intro sets the tone, and prose plays out over dark blues that swells and intensifies. The story deals with the devil and his incarnations. It’s fascinating and cinematic and I could listen to album after album of Earle doing that sort of thing. It’s amazing.

“King Of The Blues,” too, could be a secret Nick Cave track (though it leans more toward Grinderman). Over a muscular, sleazy groove, Earle unspools killer lyrics (that were so good I neglected to write any of them down) and makes the sort of album closer that leaves you wanting more, immediately.

Terraplane sounds like a labor of love for Steve Earle (and the Dukes, as well). It’s rootsy and thoughtful, engaging and easy to love. The Dukes are a great complement to Earle’s incredibly versatile voice and styles. The man can do most anything.

Terraplane was released on February 17 through New West Records.