Light, Sweet Crude by The Famous

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Americana | Roots Rock

13 tracks | 44 minutes

Released Feb 2005
on The Famous

Click for a 30-second preview. All tracks are 192kbps high fidelity sound quality. Protected WMA $0.77 or unprotected MP3 $0.88.

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sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:33 Son Of The Snake lyrics BUY MP3 03:33 Son Of The Snake lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:33 Son Of The Snake

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:03 It's Done lyrics BUY MP3 03:03 It's Done lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:03 It's Done

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:19 Tear lyrics BUY MP3 03:19 Tear lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:19 Tear

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:23 True Believer lyrics BUY MP3 04:23 True Believer lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:23 True Believer

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:35 Midway lyrics FREE 03:35 Midway lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:35 Midway

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:51 Lost lyrics BUY MP3 03:51 Lost lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:51 Lost

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:53 Better Things lyrics BUY MP3 03:53 Better Things lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:53 Better Things

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:49 Overtime lyrics BUY MP3 02:49 Overtime lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:49 Overtime

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:14 Nothing lyrics BUY MP3 02:14 Nothing lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:14 Nothing

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:43 Get You Back lyrics BUY MP3 03:43 Get You Back lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:43 Get You Back

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:09 Deconstruction Worker lyrics BUY MP3 03:09 Deconstruction Worker lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:09 Deconstruction Worker

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:35 Frumpy lyrics BUY MP3 02:35 Frumpy lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:35 Frumpy

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:54 I Wonder lyrics BUY MP3 03:54 I Wonder lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:54 I Wonder

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Girded by the raw sounds of 50s-era country, but imbued with the post-punk ferocity of The Pixies, The Famous forge powerful tunes combining the intense desperation of X, the sincere melancholy of Hank Williams Sr. and the psychobilly of Rev. Horton Heat

Editorial review

The Americana tag really doesn't mesh with the Famous, at least on their debut album, Light, Sweet Crude. Although their twang roots are obvious on a handful of tracks ("Tear," "Overtime"), the Famous blow up expectations with the metallic crunch of the first cut, "Son of the Snake." While there's certainly a little bit of country in the Famous' rock & roll, this Bay Area band simply uses its roots influences as a launching pad. Laurence Scott (vocals, guitar) recalls Michael Stipe in Lifes Rich Pageant-period R.E.M. until he explodes into his ferocious psycho hillbilly howl, revealing the inspiration of the Pixies' Frank Black. Many of the songs are catapulted by Scott's wildman persona and guitarist Victor Barclay's Southern-flavored punk licks, especially the boisterous "True Believer" and "Get You Back," a pulp novel of either revenge or imminent reconciliation. Scott's words are much darker and twisted than one would expect from anything labeled as Americana. In "Lost," Scott sings, "I set myself on fire/I cut off all of my skin." Again, the Pixies, who were never hesitant in writing about self-mutilation and suicide in painfully graphic ways, are the obvious lyrical role model. The difference is that the Famous are channeling the ghosts of cowboys past, making their grim confessions more shocking in this context. "You never tried so hard/To tear my heart out," Scott croons on "Tear," and one can easily imagine him slumped on a barstool, smoking a cigarette with the clich?d lipstick smear. "Tear" is real country music, wounded singing and cry-in-my-beer sentiments presented without the group's cutting edges. Whether being traditional or iconoclastic, the Famous are successful with both approaches. And they have a sense of humor, too, best exemplified on the stirring surf rock of "Midway." "I'm gonna die unless I get to see the world's smallest horse," warns Scott on "Midway," looking back at his childhood with a demented wink in his eye at a time when there was nothing more important than obtaining a ZZ Top key chain. They may not be Americana, but the Famous are an American original. ~ Michael Sutton, All Music Guide

Bio / Background

Formed in San Francisco late 2003, The Famous are an indie-rock/americana act whose moods range from squalling and raucous to heartfelt and sparse - all bound by a common thread of emotional intensity and arresting showmanship.

Girded by the raw sounds of '50s-era country, but imbued with the spirit of The Pixies and other post-punk pioneers, The Famous forge powerful tunes that combine the intense desperation of X, the sincere melancholy of Hank Williams Sr. and the interstellar psychobilly of the Reverend Horton Heat.

Part carnival barker, part honky-tonk crooner, vocalist Laurence Scott demands your attention with an unmistakable smoky growl straight from the heart of his native Texas. With notebooks full of abstract expressionism and wordplay, given life through an inspired and unbridled stage presence, Laurence thinks in lyrics and lives for performance.