Album Review: 40 Stitches Later – Rust Belt Never Sleeps

40 Stitches Later – Rust Belt Never Sleeps

40 Stitches Later, an Americana/Alt-Country outfit from Lansing, offer up some good North-Midwestern twang against a bleak setting of unemployment and everyday blue collar struggles on their new CD Rust Belt Never Sleeps. The title of the record is a nod that’s setting the bar a bit high, fellas, but the images behind it seem appropriate. The characters and stories are dark, but it’s not always sunshine and smiles in the 21st century Rust Belt.

At times reminiscent of The Flying Burrito Brothers, like on the opening track “Ballad of Blackman Township” and at others channeling Bottle Rockets (“Unemployment Blues”), 40SL have embraced some strong influences. They’re strongest material is delivered in minor keys and slower tempos. Those tracks (“Parkersbug, WV”,”Die Tool Maker” for example) seem to flow with a bit more authenticity, provoking images of the slow-moving days and biting winds of rural Michigan Winters. The more upbeat material has its moments too – “Vacant Lot” is catchy with its Tom Petty cadence verses and octave guitar vamps, and the title track ironically invokes Mr. Young himself.

The dying art of making a record might be rare in this age of iTunes and YouTube, but Rust Belt Never Sleeps is a balanced collection of well written songs that are more like chapters in a book than individual stories. You’ll enjoy the transition from one to the next, even when the lyrics of some hit a bit close to home. We all know someone – or might be someone – who has lost their job at the factory, has a bit too much to drink sometimes, or ought to try to spend a bit less time at the black jack table. This is life in the 21st century Rust Belt.

http://www.40stitcheslater.com