Fust – Big Ugly
The South has always produced America’s best storytellers – it’s really not even debatable. Something about the mix of hard-working folks, humidity, and 160 years of painfully incremental progress (frequently stalled by a few stubborn assholes clinging to the ghosts of a truly wretched past) has led to an area fertile in small triumphs over big pain. And, if you’re an artist of any sort, it’s all laid out for you in a sort of storytelling feast. Southwest Virginia’s Aaron Dowdy has, for three albums now, dined at that table and displayed a keen palate for the best tales. He and his band, Fust, have produced a big, riffy record full of Southern observations, and it may just end up being this year’s best album.
Big Ugly kicks off with maybe the most surround-sounding song of the band’s young career. With guitars, piano and pedal steel from guest John James Tourville, “Spangled” is a Southern ghost story of sorts which pieces together a decaying hospital and and pockmarked highways, all of which all lead to a place the narrator will never find – “And I’m not one to try to get/All the way to heaven/But now I can’t even visit/The last place it was relevant.” The next track, “Gateleg,” instead tries to find a small piece of satisfaction in a more earthly place – a simple general store. Beginning with the perfect description of Southern summer – “Some days when the hot stays” – this jangler pitches aside a life of hard labor to work for – and help – a friend: “But like the car or the false dawn, Maggie/I keep thinking that you’re gonna break.”
Another Big Ugly highlight is grungy Southern rocker “Mountain Language.” Whether it’s comparing linguistic twists, limited food options or dubious career choices – “You can’t even find work at the Country Boy/Selling gas station drugs/To take care of your sister Dallas” – the differences between the characters dissolve into a sort of unity of resolve over a shared history of struggle (plus, there’s a pretty cool guitar solo). “Bleached” is a slower, introspective tune with two hallmarks of Southern rock: angels, and a big, gorgeous chorus – “Bleached, if I seem gone/Then I am gone/I am not lighter/Just because I’m gone.” “Jody” is a twangy, fiddle-spiked rocker about navigating a way through a forever-relationship – “When it’s pass out time in Lincoln County/When Jody’s trying to find a way to feud/I put myself down from this big big world/Until I know which Jody I am talking to” – because, really, what other option is there in a small town?
“Heart Song” wraps it all together in a big ol’ ballad with strings, synths and steel, finding a moment of happiness in getting lost – “There was something I was getting to/When I met you/Did I make you forget what/You were supposed to be getting?” – in a moment with another, similar small-towner. I’ve been told that, even though I was born in a small (Northeastern) town, and even though I lived in the South for well over a decade as an adult, I’ll never truly “get” what it means to be a Southerner. That’s probably true, and an album like Big Ugly gets me a little closer to understanding why.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Spangled” – the moment I heard the opening chords-and-steel of this gorgeous track, it had me searching for the next Colorado appearance from Fust (sadly, nothing…yet).
Big Ugly was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Alex Farrar. All songs written by Aaron Dowdy. Fust is Aaron Dowdy (guitar, vocals, synth), Avery Sullivan (drums, percussion), Frank Meadows (piano, percussion), John Wallace (guitar, vocals), Justin Morris (guitar, pedal steel, vocals), Libby Rodenbough (fiddle, vocals) and Oliver Child-Lanning (bass, vocals, dulcimer, synth). Additional musicians on the album include Alex Farrar (guitar, lap steel0, Dave Hartley (synths), Jacob Bruner (horns), John James Tourville (pedal steel) and Merce Lemon (vocals).
Go here to order Big Ugly (out March 7): https://fust.band/merch
Check out tour dates here: https://fust.band/tour