Blue Diamond Shine

Shrimp Boat Town (Abyssinian)

It hardly takes a hurricane for Gulf Coast residents to feel marginalized. The shameful aftermath of Katrina and Rita is merely the most tragic example of a phenomenon that also allows Houston Astros all-stars Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt to prosper in relative obscurity and a discrete regional sound to not only survive but flourish in the iTunes era. A meandering, melancholy suite about killing time and brain cells in a sleepy seaside burg – anywhere from Port Lavaca, Texas, to Gulf Shores, Ala. – Austin fivepiece Blue Diamond Shine’s Shrimp Boat Town evokes a place where, in frontman John Stark’s elegant bayou poetry, “The jukebox is your only friend.” His well-spent quarters pay handsome dividends: the timeless swamp-pop of “Lonely, Lonely Eyes,” Tex-Mex chug of “The Desperate Side,” forlorn honky-tonk of “Karaoke Queen,” and clever nods to R.E.M. and Rockpile on “Karankawa Daughters” and “The Judge.” If Huey P. Meaux were still around, he’d hustle BDS into his Sugar Hill Studios double time. He’d probably hustle them, too, but the Crazy Cajun would understand why locales like Stark’s Shrimp Boat Town have as much musical worth as Beale Street, Broadway, and the Sunset Strip.

***.5

This article appears in August 11 • 2006.

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