The Resentments
(Freedom) The all-star lineup of Stephen Bruton, Jon Dee Graham, Bruce Hughes, Jud Newcomb, and the late Mambo John Treanor debuted on disc with the live Sunday Night Line-Up in 2002, an inspired, off-the-cuff collection of songs heard mostly in the band’s individual musical efforts. After the death of Treanor, John Chipman augmented the Resentments’ need for skins on the band’s self-titled studio debut, each performer taking turns at the microphone. The result is a rich, aural song pull of originals and covers, beginning with Bruton’s rocker “Rich Man’s War” and followed by Jud Newcomb’s thoughtful “You Don’t Know My Mind.” Graham’s “Thirteen” is a tender paean to his years as a teenager down on the border and the awkward dance into adulthood. Hughes ruminates on love, too, with “Several Thousand,” tugging heartstrings with his sweet vocals. Yet it’s the exuberance of Bruton’s “Never Slowin’ Down” that really poses the question of how these guys manage to keep the music fresh and fuel-injected after their collective decades of playing. Perhaps Bruton has the answer: “I ain’t old as I once was, but I still got what it takes. I’m living for the here and now, and I ain’t ever slowin’ down.”
This article appears in November 14 • 2003.