Satisfied Mind

The Walkabouts: Carla Torgenson (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, cello);
Chris Eckman (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); Michael Wells (harmonica, bass); Glenn Slater (accordion, piano, organ, Moog synthesizer); Terri Moeller (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Personnel: Carla Torgerson (vocals, guitar, cello); Chris Eckman (vocals, guitar); Mark Lanegan (vocals); Terry Lee Hale (acoustic guitar, slide guitar); Ivan Král (electric guitar, synthesizer); Larry Barrett (lap steel guitar, banjo, mandolin, background vocals); Peter Buck (bouzouki, dulcimer, mandolin); Clayton Park (violin, electric violin); Michael Wells (harmonica, background vocals); Glenn Slater (accordion, piano, organ, Moog synthesizer); Terri Moeller (drums, percussion, background vocals).
Liner Note Author: Chris Eckman.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Mark Lanegan; Mary Margaret O'Hara; Nick Cave; Robert Forster .
Like Yo La Tengo's Fakebook, the Walkabouts' Satisfied Mind is a definitive artistic statement masquerading as a loose-knit collection of acoustic covers. Sometimes a group's selection of cover material, combined with their ability to make the songs their own, winds up revealing as much about their craft as their original music, and such is the case here; mining the work of diverse artists like the Carter Family, Gene Clark, Mary Margaret O'Hara, John Cale, and Nick Cave, Satisfied Mind represents the purest evocation to date of the Walkabouts' aesthetic and its standing at the crossroads of country, rock, folk, and punk. By casting well-known songs in an entirely new light -- Patti Smith's "Free Money" becomes an ominous waltz, while Charlie Rich's "Feel Like Going Home" is renewed as an epic dirge -- the album makes explicit all of the implicit connections in the Walkabouts' work. By extension, it underlines the connections binding the spectrum of roots music as well; Satisfied Mind doesn't simply suggest that diverse sounds can coexist together -- it proves that they always have. ~ Jason Ankeny