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Luke Spurr Allen, a fixture of the New Orleans music scene for his work with the Happy Talk Band and part ownership of the music venue Siberia, has released a new album called Pothole Heart. Shortly after Allen’s decision to invest in Siberia, he found out he was going to be a father, a combination in which has affected his songwriting and lent inspiration for new material, while also delaying releasing material for the past seven years.
Pothole Heart is a songwriter’s journey full of reflective, dark, and occasionally humorous songwriting that stems from Allen’s history as a bartender in the evolved landscape of New Orleans. Pothole Heart features some of New Orleans’ finest, including Happy Talk alums Bailey Smith (guitar, vocals), Alex McMurray (guitar, banjo, vocals), Steve Calandra (bass, guiro, vocals), Mike Andrepont (drums), and Casey McAllister (piano, organs, banjo, mandolin, xylophone), alongside Helen Gillet, Meschiya Lake, Washboard Chaz, and more.
Through his dark imagery, reflective experiences, and simple song structure, Allen successfully creates a thoughtful record shrouded in darkness, while offering moments of comfort through his raconteur delivery of darker subjects and sing-a-long melodies. The album starts off with the chorus heavy ‘Too Late To Die Young,’ in which the narrator tells the listener to “die young for goodness sake for a well attended wake” touching on the doldrums of getting old without realizing it and then not being able to do anything about it. It’s comedic in a way, while still holding onto the dark context in which it exists.
Another notable moment on Pothole Heart is a track called ‘Grackle’ in which a hungover and down-on-his-luck narrator, just getting home from a night out, pleads for a morning bird to cease its call and let him catch up on sleep. The simple guitar chord progression and saunter of the tuba give the song an idyllic feeling, yet lyrically it’s an unpleasant self-loathing drinker’s lament which seems realistic given Allen’s tenure as a bartender.
‘Gary Brown’ is a powerful country folk track about a mass murderer who kills himself while examining the reasoning behind the character’s actions. It’s a dark and unsettling subject, but it’s delivered with laid back acoustic guitar, plucky banjo, rolling piano, and an eerie sample of the famous “cold, dead hands” speech from former NRA president Charlton Heston that is an interesting juxtaposition of sinister and romantic. Luke Spurr Allen expertly presents a balance between dark and comedic in his writing, of which Pothole Heart is not lacking.
Pothole Heart is reassuring and comforting in its darkness by Allen’s sense of humor, simple songwriting structure, and pensive observations that come from bartending in New Orleans for the past twenty years.
Pothole Heart is available on CD and mp3 from CD Baby, Louisiana Music Factory, Amazon, and iTunes.
