WACO BROTHERS & PAUL BURCH
''GREAT CHICAGO FIRE''
APRIL 24 2012
38:36
1 /Great Chicago Fire
Paul Burch / Jon Langford/3:43
2 /Give In
Dean Schlabowske/3:31
3 /Wrong Side of Love
Paul Burch/3:27
4 /Flight to Spain
Paul Burch/4:44
5 /Cannonball
Jon Langford/2:37
6 /Monterey
Paul Burch/2:58
7 /Someone That You Know
Jon Langford/2:53
8 /Transfusion Blues
Paul Burch/2:49
9 /On the Sly
Dean Schlabowske/3:49
10 /Up on the Mountain
Paul Burch/2:57
11 /Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
Bob Dylan/5:08
Pat Brennan /Accordion, Piano
Paul Burch /Drums, Guitar, Piano (Electric), Producer, Sound Balancer, Vocals
Joe Camarillo /Drums
Tracy Dear /Electronic Mandolin, Vocals
Alan Doughty /Bass (Electric)
Steve Goulding /Drums
Fats Kaplin /Fiddle
Jon Langford /Guitar, Vocals
Tawny Newsome /Vocals
Dean Schlabowske /Guitar, Organ, Vocals
Bethany Thomas /Vocals
REVIEW
By Mark Deming
The package for Great Chicago Fire includes a tongue-in-cheek note from the owner of Bloodshot Records urging the Waco Brothers and Paul Burch to team up despite their "paltry record sales" in an effort to create something that "should aim to be between the 14th and 25th best rock albums ever made." Part of what presumably makes this funny is the fact that Paul Burch has never had a reputation for rocking out -- he's an excellent songwriter who has made a handful of fine albums fusing various roots styles with traditional country sounds, but rock & roll just isn't in his wheelhouse. The Waco Brothers, on the other hand, have always been a rock band first and a country act third or fourth, despite their clear reverence for the genre and its traditions. Putting Burch and the Wacos together in the studio would seem like a dicey prospect, but the two acts bring out unexpected strengths in one another on Great Chicago Fire. Arriving seven years after the Waco's last studio effort, Great Chicago Fire finds them sounding fresher and more enthusiastic than they have in a while, and though this doesn't hit nearly as hard as their best work, the songs connect with an admirable strength and grace, and they haven't had a set of material as consistently strong as this in a decade. And if Burch doesn't sound like a rock singer on this set, he rides the waves of The Waco Brothers' more muscular approach with aplomb as they make with a Stones-influenced R&B groove that informs even the most C&W specific numbers on the album. Closing with a Bob Dylan cover re-imagined as a lost Yardbirds tune, Great Chicago Fire is that rare collaboration where both sides seem to inform one another equally and derive new strengths from teaming up, and with any luck these two acts will bring the fire again someday.
BIOGRAPHY
By Jason Ankeny
Waco Brothers are one of many projects spearheaded by Jon Langford, the frontman of the seminal British punk band the Mekons. An alternative country outfit based in Langford's adopted home of Chicago, Waco Brothers' approach grew out of mid-'80s Mekons records like Fear and Whiskey and The Mekons Honky Tonkin', which explored the group's interest in roots music. After the Mekons eventually returned to a more straightforward, punk-flavored sound, Waco Brothers emerged over a decade later as a vehicle for Langford's long-dormant country leanings. Fusing honky tonk and rockabilly with Langford's typically political lyrics, the group was for the most part comprised of fellow British expatriates, including drummer Steve Goulding (who plays with the Mekons and was a member of Graham Parker's the Rumour), bassist Alan Doughty (ex-Jesus Jones), steel guitarist Mark Durante (who worked with KMFDM), and mandolinist Tracy Dear, with guitarist Dean Schlabowske (aka Deano) serving as the group's token Yankee. 
While Langford originally founded the group strictly as a live act to play locally in Chicago, Waco Brothers soon won a passionate following for their energetic and beer-soaked club gigs, and after Langford struck up a friendship with Bloodshot Records co-founder Rob Miller, the band recorded its debut album for the label, 1995's To The Last Dead Cowboy. A second album followed in 1997, Cowboy In Flames, and soon became one of the label's biggest sellers; since then, Waco Brothers have released a steady stream of albums (Freedom and Weep [2005], Waco Express: Live & Kickin' at Schuba's Tavern [2008], The Great Chicago Fire, a collaboration with Paul Burch [2012]) and toured periodically, though folks wanting to see them on-stage are still best advised to visit Chicago. Several members of The Waco Brothers are frequent participants in another of Langford's many projects, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, while Schlabowske also performs with his own group, Dollar Store.
''GREAT CHICAGO FIRE''
APRIL 24 2012
38:36
1 /Great Chicago Fire
Paul Burch / Jon Langford/3:43
2 /Give In
Dean Schlabowske/3:31
3 /Wrong Side of Love
Paul Burch/3:27
4 /Flight to Spain
Paul Burch/4:44
5 /Cannonball
Jon Langford/2:37
6 /Monterey
Paul Burch/2:58
7 /Someone That You Know
Jon Langford/2:53
8 /Transfusion Blues
Paul Burch/2:49
9 /On the Sly
Dean Schlabowske/3:49
10 /Up on the Mountain
Paul Burch/2:57
11 /Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
Bob Dylan/5:08
Pat Brennan /Accordion, Piano
Paul Burch /Drums, Guitar, Piano (Electric), Producer, Sound Balancer, Vocals
Joe Camarillo /Drums
Tracy Dear /Electronic Mandolin, Vocals
Alan Doughty /Bass (Electric)
Steve Goulding /Drums
Fats Kaplin /Fiddle
Jon Langford /Guitar, Vocals
Tawny Newsome /Vocals
Dean Schlabowske /Guitar, Organ, Vocals
Bethany Thomas /Vocals
REVIEW
By Mark Deming
The package for Great Chicago Fire includes a tongue-in-cheek note from the owner of Bloodshot Records urging the Waco Brothers and Paul Burch to team up despite their "paltry record sales" in an effort to create something that "should aim to be between the 14th and 25th best rock albums ever made." Part of what presumably makes this funny is the fact that Paul Burch has never had a reputation for rocking out -- he's an excellent songwriter who has made a handful of fine albums fusing various roots styles with traditional country sounds, but rock & roll just isn't in his wheelhouse. The Waco Brothers, on the other hand, have always been a rock band first and a country act third or fourth, despite their clear reverence for the genre and its traditions. Putting Burch and the Wacos together in the studio would seem like a dicey prospect, but the two acts bring out unexpected strengths in one another on Great Chicago Fire. Arriving seven years after the Waco's last studio effort, Great Chicago Fire finds them sounding fresher and more enthusiastic than they have in a while, and though this doesn't hit nearly as hard as their best work, the songs connect with an admirable strength and grace, and they haven't had a set of material as consistently strong as this in a decade. And if Burch doesn't sound like a rock singer on this set, he rides the waves of The Waco Brothers' more muscular approach with aplomb as they make with a Stones-influenced R&B groove that informs even the most C&W specific numbers on the album. Closing with a Bob Dylan cover re-imagined as a lost Yardbirds tune, Great Chicago Fire is that rare collaboration where both sides seem to inform one another equally and derive new strengths from teaming up, and with any luck these two acts will bring the fire again someday.
BIOGRAPHY
By Jason Ankeny
Waco Brothers are one of many projects spearheaded by Jon Langford, the frontman of the seminal British punk band the Mekons. An alternative country outfit based in Langford's adopted home of Chicago, Waco Brothers' approach grew out of mid-'80s Mekons records like Fear and Whiskey and The Mekons Honky Tonkin', which explored the group's interest in roots music. After the Mekons eventually returned to a more straightforward, punk-flavored sound, Waco Brothers emerged over a decade later as a vehicle for Langford's long-dormant country leanings. Fusing honky tonk and rockabilly with Langford's typically political lyrics, the group was for the most part comprised of fellow British expatriates, including drummer Steve Goulding (who plays with the Mekons and was a member of Graham Parker's the Rumour), bassist Alan Doughty (ex-Jesus Jones), steel guitarist Mark Durante (who worked with KMFDM), and mandolinist Tracy Dear, with guitarist Dean Schlabowske (aka Deano) serving as the group's token Yankee.
While Langford originally founded the group strictly as a live act to play locally in Chicago, Waco Brothers soon won a passionate following for their energetic and beer-soaked club gigs, and after Langford struck up a friendship with Bloodshot Records co-founder Rob Miller, the band recorded its debut album for the label, 1995's To The Last Dead Cowboy. A second album followed in 1997, Cowboy In Flames, and soon became one of the label's biggest sellers; since then, Waco Brothers have released a steady stream of albums (Freedom and Weep [2005], Waco Express: Live & Kickin' at Schuba's Tavern [2008], The Great Chicago Fire, a collaboration with Paul Burch [2012]) and toured periodically, though folks wanting to see them on-stage are still best advised to visit Chicago. Several members of The Waco Brothers are frequent participants in another of Langford's many projects, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, while Schlabowske also performs with his own group, Dollar Store.