On the inner sleeve to his latest LP, Barge At Will, Jon Snodgrass writes, “My favorite songs were written in the time it takes to play them. Sometimes, while playing them.” But he ends with the cautionary “It doesn’t work out every time.” But based on the dozen or so songs that make up his latest, even those that don’t work out can still bring a smile to the listener.
Over the past three decades, Snodgrass – in his unassuming nature – has been quietly churning out some of the most brilliant songs that ping in and out of punk, indie rock and folk punk as a member of Armchair Martian, Drag The River, the astrologically-specific supergroup the Scorpios and as a solo artist. And Barge At Will shows he has no intentions of corking the cleverness anytime soon.
The charm of Snodgrass’s music is in the seemingly simple way in which he writes. He can take a subject – any subject – and turn it into a song that sticks with you long after you’ve stopped listening. The two-minute “First Rodeo,” was inspired by an audience member who yelled out ‘it’s not your first rodeo’ as Snodgrass was breaking down equipment after a set (I think the story goes). He takes that one, ridiculously cliched line and uses it as an opportunity to tell his origin story about becoming a musician at 17, while also stating “there’s nothing wrong with your first rodeo” – you have to start somewhere. You can also hear that in “Wonderwall 2,” over a lonely saxophone (courtesy of Less Than Jake’s Peter “JR” Wasilewski), Snodgrass sings, “Wonderwall is a song; this is a song too.” And as goofy as that sounds, the joke doesn’t get old despite being stretched out for nearly a minute. It just gets funnier.
The buddies from the album jacket include the two Chris’ from Hot Water Music (Wollard and Cresswell), Wasilewski, ALL’s Scott Reynolds and The Descendent’s Bill Stevenson on drums and bass. The fleshed out sound this fuller band creates makes songs like “Dan’s Amp,” “Pre-Teen Wolf” and “Crunching The Numbers” – an autobiographical song about Snodgrass booking his tours around away games of his beloved Colorado Rockies – some of his most memorable in years.
It’s this unassuming songwriting about often random topics mixed with some inarguably stellar tunes, played and sung with the natural ease that comes from being on the road for decades, that makes for such a great listen. Snodgrass comes across as the perennial opener with songs that make the headliner jealous.
