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Everyone's talking about the Memphis horns in Son Volt's 2007 CD release, "The Search." The country-inspired alternative rock band definitely sounds jazzed up in its first single off the album, a cynical commentary on war and natural disaster in "The Picture."
Front man and songwriter Jay Farrar sounds at ease with the contradictory forces at work in the single. "We put the horns on after we recorded it, and at first I wasn't sure whether that juxtaposition was gonna seem incongruous to have such a buoyant element in a downbeat song," he wrote in a song-by-song commentary on the band's Web site. "But after hearing it, I felt like it worked and that that's the way it wanted to be."People will certainly bob their heads and tap their toes when the St. Louis-based band plays the catchy but socially conscious number at the Bear Tooth Theatrepub on Thursday and headlines the entertainment portion of the Alaska Oceans Festival on June 7. But Son Volt produces everything from roaring rock anthems to moody folk ballads, with the country-infected guitar rifts of "The Search" and the eerily sonic textures of "Circadian Rhythm." Son Volt made its mark in the mid-1990s with Farrar as its leader. Years before, he worked with Jeff Tweedy in Uncle Tupelo, but Tweedy went on to form Wilco (which performs at the Moose's Tooth later this summer) while Farrar explored solo projects. He reformed the band with Dave Bryson on drums, Andrew DuPlantis on bass, Brad Rice on guitar (since the 2005 release "Okemah and the Melody of Riot") and Derry deBorja on piano.As the visionary behind the music, Farrar handles vocals, plays guitar and harmonica and writes songs founded on an emotional edge, whether hope and despair or complacency and action.The band's latest album got plenty of attention on late-night television and music magazines last year. Critics mostly applauded the band's return to its core sound, likening it to old-school R.E.M., Neil Young and Bob Dylan. The tunes range from rock to political folk, with compositional allusions to bands like the Beatles and Cowboy Junkies.A music reviewer for The New York Times welcomed "The Search" as a the band's high mark this decade. "Simple but effective sonic details ... prevent 'The Search' from feeling either preachy or repetitive. And while reality can be bleak in Mr. Farrar's world, there's always a sun-streaked horizon ahead."As with Cake's set at the Moose's Tooth last year, Son Volt promises more than music to dance to, for Farrar wants to say something worth thinking about later. Laid-back as always, he won't rely on stage antics to woo the crowd but let the music do the talking.