Low Down Time is a lot like driving around just for the hell of it. There’s no destination, no complexity – just a ride, and you might be feeling like shit, but at least you’ve got a buddy and a drink at the end of it. Like its predecessors, the record is a mess of sonic colors – the love child of soul divas, some vaudeville actors, country barflies, rockers, rollers, swingers and those gypsies that stole everything from your car. But Buffalo Clover manages to string together the acts in this variety show, namely with a songwriting prowess that takes an interest in tales of woe and wanderlust.
On opener “Can’t Stand Still,” Margo Price spouts the archaic convention: “Women ain’t supposed to ramble/women ain’t supposed to drink,” then shrugs it off in favor of romantic speculations of finding rambling men to be with and stallions to ride. Low Down Time extends an invitation to the rambling types in a number of ways – when the band recalls the folky spirit present on their previous recordings, or when Price lays out her deal, then begs, “Tell me you aren’t the same” on “Cure Me.”
Buffalo Clover can swing country and blues jaunts (“Oklahoma,” “Saint Cathleen”) just as well as they can play the ragged and lonely card, like on the lovelorn drag, “Don’t Lie to Yourself,” whose cascading piano backdrop is fit for a western lounge act. “Nobody Cares” is another standout with guitars boiling down around Matt Gardner’s vocals, which take the lead to glowing female backup as they do on “Oklahoma.”
The record wanders into gaudy territory, like on the carnivalesque “Oh Well,” a brassy, kitschy number that could’ve been plucked from a trampy roadshow version of Grease. But anything goes. Maybe the complaints, stories and speculations of Low Down Time are genuine, or maybe it’s all just a big show, but it doesn’t matter either way. It’s a fun ride and a relatable one that can soundtrack roadside stops, short-lived trysts, low down time or just wandering around looking for something. – Jessica Pace
Buffalo Clover play the MusiCares benefit Sept. 10 at Exit/In’s 40th anniversary bash. Check out the video for “Saint Cathleen” here.