16 Horsepower - Hoarse (2001)

I don’t particularly like live albums. This stems from my aversion to Greatest Hits releases, only now the production quality has been decreased and background noise added. That said, there are always a few exceptions to any rule, and this is one of them. 16 Horsepower moseys on in from Denver, boasting gritty Southern-gothic alt-country rock. The band features David Eugene Edwards of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, and shares additional members with fellow dark-folk champions The Denver Gentlemen and Woven Hand.

I rarely feel enticed to play a live track over the original studio version, but 16HP found a clever way to tempt listeners: include several songs unavailable on any studio album. In the case of this release, these include covers of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s "Bad Moon Risin’," The Gun Club’s "Fire Spirit," and Joy Division’s "Day of the Lords." It’s a truly impressive feat that 16HP has effectively turned songs by both John Fogerty and Ian Curtis (two songwriters not often mentioned in the same sentence) sound not only like they belong to the same band but authentically great as well. Covers aside, the 1998 concert recorded in their Colorado hometown establishes that this is a band worth seeing live.

Streamable Track: "Bad Moon Risin'"


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