''The Modern Sounds of the Knitters'' is the second album by

The Knitters The Knitters are a Los Angeles-based band who play country music, country, rockabilly and folk music. The Knitters' name is a play on the name of the folk group The Weavers. Background The Knitters formed in 1982 as a side project to the band ...

, released in 2005. It has received mixed critical reviews.

Recording and release

were founded in the mid-1980s by members of X and standup bassist Johnny Ray Bartel. The released ''

Poor Little Critter on the Road ''Poor Little Critter on the Road'' is the debut album from X (American band), X side project The Knitters, ''Poor Little Critter on the Road'' contains original compositions and covers of songs by X as well as established country music performer ...

'' in 1985 but went into hiatus after that album. The band included covers of existing

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

with

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

songs based purely on whatever sounded good to the musicians;

Exene Cervenka Exene Cervenka (born Christene Lee Cervenka; February 1, 1956) is an American singer, artist, and poet. She is best known for her work as a singer in the California punk rock band X. Music career The 21-year-old Cervenka met 23-year-old m ...

's son requested the inclusion of " Born to Be Wild". The band reformed to tour in support of the album and continued to make sporadic appearances for years after.

Critical reception

The editorial staff of

AllMusic Guide AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

gave the release four out of five stars, with reviewer Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., singling out Cervenka and Doe's vocals, Alvin's guitar work, and the unique blending of musical genres on the album. Stephen Haag of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

gave a negative review, writing that the humor falls flat on the album and while some tracks are worthwhile, it ultimately "sound both like an album that took too long to release and one that was released too hastily". In ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Sylvie Simmons gave the work four out of five stars with special attention given to Cervenka and Doe's vocals.

Track listing

#"Easy Goin' Sunday" (The Knitters)– 0:35 #"Give Me Flowers While I'm Living" (Traditional)– 2:15 #"Try Anymore (Why Don't We Even)" (

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used in the British, Canadian, and American legal systems, when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law ...

)– 2:52 #"In This House That I Call Home" (

, John Doe)– 2:22 #"Dry River" (

Dave Alvin David Albert Alvin (born November 11, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former and founding member of the roots rock band the Blasters. Alvin has recorded and performed as a solo artist since the late 1980s ...

)– 3:23 #"Skin Deep Town" (Exene Cervenka, John Doe)– 2:26 #"Rank Stranger" ( Albert E. Brumley)– 4:10 #"The New Call of the Wreckin' Ball" (Dave Alvin, John Doe)– 3:38 #"Long Chain On" (

Jimmy Driftwood James Corbitt Morris (June 20, 1907 – July 12, 1998), known professionally as Jimmy Driftwood or Jimmie Driftwood, was an American folk music, folk-style songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs "The Battle of New Orleans (song), ...

)– 4:10 #"I'll Go Down Swinging" (

Bill Anderson James William Anderson III (born November 1, 1937) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television host. His soft-spoken singing voice earned him the nickname "Whispering Bill" from music critics and writers. As a songwriter, hi ...

)– 2:25 #"Burning House of Love" (Exene Cervenka, John Doe)– 3:41 #"Little Margret" (Traditional)– 3:05 #" Born to Be Wild" (

Mars Bonfire Dennis Edmonton (born Dennis Eugene McCrohan; 21 April 1943), also known by the stage name Mars Bonfire, is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter, best known for writing the hit song " Born to Be Wild" for Steppenwolf. Early career Born Den ...

)– 4:26

Personnel

The Knitters *

– acoustic and electric guitars,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

Jonny Ray Bartel Jonny is a masculine given name, and pet name, in the English language. A pet form of Jon, the natural diminutive of given name Jonathan, in some cases it can also mean a condom. A variant form of ''Jonny'' is ''Jonnie''. People with the name * ...

–

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, production * D. J. Bonebrake–

snare drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...

, production, arrangement on "Give Me Flowers While I'm Living" *

– vocals, production *

– acoustic guitar, vocals, production, arrangement on "Little Margret" Additional personnel *Craig Adams– recording,

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

on "Easy Goin' Sunday" *Diana Bonebrake– compact disc design, artwork *

Joe Gastwirt Joe Gastwirt is an American audio engineer, known for digitally remastering hundreds of CDs and LPs for famous artists, including the Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, Helen Reddy, Electric Light Orchestra, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Blu ...

– mastering at Gastwirt Mastering *Steven Jurgensmeyer– booklet design *Kassel Photography– photography *

Mark Linett Mark Linett is an American record producer and audio engineer who is best known for his remixing and remastering of the Beach Boys' catalog. Since 1988, he has been the engineer for Brian Wilson's recordings. He has also worked with Red Hot C ...

– mixing at Your Place or Mine Recording

References

External links

* *
''The Modern Sounds of the Knitters''
at

Rate Your Music Rate Your Music (often abbreviated to RYM) is an online encyclopedia of music releases and films. Users can catalog items from their personal collection, review them, and assign ratings in a five-star rating system. The site also features comm ...

Interview with Doe from ''Warped Reality''A Knitters set
from '' World Cafe'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Modern Sounds Of The Knitters 2005 albums The Knitters albums Zoë Records albums