Making Singles Drinking Doubles
(Bloodshot)For their 100th release, the folks at Bloodshot Records decided to do something a little bit country and a little bit rock & roll. Making Singles Drinking Doubles is a compilation of tracks from long-out-of-print singles and EPs that the Chicago-based label has released over the years with some unreleased surprises tacked on to make the package even more special. Like a true indie, Bloodshot still releases music in the 7-inch format. A novelty for those used to jukeboxes full of CDs, a single is still the perfect way to get a straight shot of goodness out of an artist, and for music freaks, it’s still an item to be treasured. Here we get a good sample of where the label has been over the course of 100 albums. The Waco Brothers, Sadies, Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Meat Purveyors, Ryan Adams — there’s more than a touch of punk in the Bloodshot brand of country. Adams’ fans will want to know that there are two previously unreleased outtakes from his Heartbreaker sessions here. Those are minor when compared to the Wacos tackling Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come,” the Volebeats’ inexplicably gorgeous cover of P-Funk’s “Maggot Brain,” and the Meat Purveyors carving up Madonna bluegrass-style. That it all holds together so well is a sign that the label’s initial vision, infusing boring rock with twang, still rings true.
This article appears in December 13 • 2002.