ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Hearts are just electrified meat is the title of Captain Chucke’s new EP. But the Southeast Ohio–based folk-punk/flailgrass songwriter’s three new songs aren’t really about the chemical-electrical processes that animate the human body. Instead, they circle a different kind of truth: understanding how the heart works does very little to explain how the heart behaves.
The EP opens with Two Dollar Bill, introducing us to the consistent subject and sound of all three tracks on the release: heartbreak and the problem of what to do about it, served over a gritty, loose musicality. Acoustic guitar anchors each song, but rarely settles into comfort. Patterns of percussion only reveal their earwormy logic once the ear adjusts. Backing instruments chime and shimmer without fully locking into place. The result is a kind of friction that ultimately works in the release’s favor, reinforcing its emotional imbalance and uneasy momentum.
While the coping strategy for heartbreak on Two Dollar Bill is the sideways consideration of the indifferent bartender and the emotional blunting effect of alcohol, the second track, Thumb Out, stays focused on romantic loss while suggesting that instead of numbing oneself, one should hitch a ride out of this town together!
Electrified Meat brings the release to a close, serving satisfyingly as the release’s most fully realized track both emotionally and musically. While romantic undercurrents remain, its focus broadens to include the steady passage of time, the persistence of emotional pain, and the minute-to-minute labor of staying alive.
Famously, country music is “three chords and the truth.” If we can say the same thing about folk music – and I think we can – Captain Chucke’s new EP lives up to that standard, recognizing that understanding the body’s mechanics rarely explains what the heart insists on doing anyway.
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