Album Review: Todd Snider – Peace Queer

Of the eight songs on Peace Queer there is an instrumental, a recitation, a musical version of that recitation, and a cover. It’s a bizarre record, mostly because of how incredibly unexpected it is after Snider’s remarkable 2006 Devil You Know, but Snider really commits to the direction on Peace Queer and the result is an exceedingly pleasing effort.

First off, this is not a country record–not at all. With Devil You Know, I thought Snider gave us a possible new paradigm for country music–a way for country to draw on the sounds of American roots music instead of corporate pop-rock, and to retain a focus on grown-up stories, insights, and the classic verse chorus structure that is singularly revealing. Peace Queer represents a similar accomplishment, except this time around, it’s folk music that Snider is tackling.

And he does it well. The forms aren’t the classic folk forms–you wouldn’t mistake the folk numbers on this record, namely “Mission Accomplished,” “The Ballad of Cape Henry,” “Dividing Estate,” and “Is This Thing On,” for old Woody Guthrie tunes. They use the same formula, though, in that they take a repetitive and familiar musical pattern with a rootsy history and go to town while stalwartly avoiding the trap of relying on any sort of cheap, poppy, songwriting tricks to make the song artificially appealing. They also don’t really sweat too much verse/chorus connection. Snider is absolutely at home in this setting and, if I didn’t know better, I’d guess this was his signature style.

One of the big advantages that Snider’s “new folk” has going for it is that it’s hard to make it sound bad. The forms are simple, palpable, and enjoyable. They incorporate elements of gospel, blues, and classic American folk and groove along to our ears probably in much the same way that Guthrie’s forms grooved along to his listeners. Musically, these songs do just what we expect them to–a good thing in this instance–and despite the record not having a lot of great moments, the musical strength of his “new folk” is so consistently good, and Snider is so overwhelmingly charming, that the record becomes something more than the sum of its parts.

Then there is the politics. Snider’s serious cover of “Fortunate Son”–which is definitely one of the highlights–sums up Snider’s perspective pretty well and is a fairly straightforward presentation of the theme that Snider works throughout the rest of the record. He manages to tackle it from a couple different ways too, especially with the “Prelude to a Heart Attack” and “Heart Attack” numbers. Snider’s demeanor on Peace Queer is a lot closer to Guthrie’s than Steve Earle’s or Dylan’s in that it’s playful and grinning, but he is definitely a man working toward making a point and overall I think he does a fine job, although he may be a little heavy-handed at times (we really didn’t need a recitation and a song version of his bully vs. plucky underdog tale).

All and all, Peace Queer was an unexpected record that finds Snider surprising us with something different and new while managing to still be the Todd Snider we know and love. Despite being strange, the record has more then enough substance to make it a worthwhile purchase; as a free record, it’s a must have.