Tom Coerver and Goin’ South, Thirds and More (Independent)


Swamp-rock vet Tom Coerver may sound like he picked up two confreres on his latest collection of amped-up, jazz-influenced Southern rock, but he’s still doing most of it himself. Besides being one of the better guitarists in Sportsmen’s Paradise, he can also handle everything except bass and a few harmony vocals. The best news yet for those who picked up Backwater Tales or Waterfront View is that Coerver has also grown as a songwriter. Lyrically, he’s not quite out of the blue-collar lunch pail just yet, but his hooks are fatter and more prone to stick in the brain.

Since his leads are still hot enough to take on an Allman and loose enough to wander around inside covers, Thirds is his most potent blend yet of redneck style and jam-band substance (People who reference James Gang album titles are not, by and large, fucking around). Hell, he may deserve a lyric sheet soon, if the Lowell George-isms of “Mama’s Run Off” are any indication: “Well, it looks like the wedded bliss bubble burst / I didn’t know women had a mid-life crisis / Pop woulda thought of that idea first / if it wasn’t for those crazy divorce-lawyer prices.” Recommended for rebels who still have their wits about them.