The Weight
Discography:
Ghost Town (EP) (Out of print)/Love God Murder (Date unknown)
Compass (Out of print)/Joseph Plunket & The Weight (2002)
Seven Stories (EP) (Out of print)/Joseph Plunket & The Weight (2003)
Ships (Single)/The Weight (2003)
Ten Mile Grace/The Weight (2004)
Are Men/The Weight (2008)
Summer Sessions (Limited edition, vinyl-only)/The Weight (2009)
Nowhere Now/The Weight (Slated for July 5, 2011)
RIYL:
Lucero, Whiskeytown, The Replacements, Star Room Boys, Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, Nebraska-era Springsteen
The Sound:
Rowdy honky tonk meets Southern-inspired rock and roll meets Bakersfield country meets introspective, at times brooding, folk-rock.
The Video:
The Weight's YouTube Channel
The Skinny:
Joseph Plunket is the founder and bandleader of a revolving door of musicians known as The Weight. Originally from Mississippi, Plunket cut his teeth in the 90’s playing punk rock in Athens, GA. After failing to catch on as a punk artist, Plunket switched gears and began writing and performing music with a more folk/country flavor. “I was really into Bruce Springsteen,” Plunket says. “But it was hard for me to believe I could sing like that. I loved that sort of music, but I had always played in bands where everyone was yelling. Then one day I sat down with a guitar and realized I had a decent voice. I kind of surprised myself. And I’ve never looked back.” That “decent voice” Plunket possesses is a gruff baritone that reminds me a bit of Steve Earle or Dwight Yoakam. With a new focus and sound, his first- known band (to my knowledge), Love God Murder, did not last long, cutting a now-out-of-print EP on the defunct Stickfigure Records titled, Ghost Town. Plunket retired the Love God Murder name and in 2002 released another out-of-print record (Compass) under the name Joseph Plunket & The Weight. I’ve poked around the internet looking for a copy of it, but have not had much success. I’ve seen it listed on eBay for about $30, but I don’t want it that badly. The following year Joseph Plunket & The Weight released an EP titled Seven Stories. Of course, this is out of print too, but I was able to score a new copy for a reasonable price via Amazon. The last I checked, you can still find new and used copies of it on Amazon. Plunket was still kicking around Athens when he released Ten Mile Grace in 2004. For this album, Plunket dropped his name and went simply with The Weight. While Ten Mile Grace did not sell very well, it was well-received by critics and The Weight were hailed as “one of the most promising groups on the new millennium's alt-country scene.” The lack of commercial success did not deter Plunket. "I want to make records I can be proud of and play as many shows as possible,” he proclaims. “Those have always been the goals I've had for this band, and I don't see them changing anytime soon." While the approach towards his music did not change, his location did, as Plunket relocated to Brooklyn, NY. “To me it’s not that different to what happened historically, with blues music going north to Chicago,” Plunket argues. “I could have gone to Nashville, but they’re going to laugh at me there so I figured it’d be a little easier if I headed north. As a rock band we’re more in tune to the kind of music that’s come out of New York.” With a more stable lineup (including his uncle Will Noland on bass), The Weight released Are Men in 2008. After touring to support Are Men, The Weight recorded Summer Sessions at The Living Room in Atlanta, GA. Limited to 300 pressings, Summer Sessions is a vinyl-only release and was only available at their shows. According to the only working website the band has left (http://www.theweightnyc.com/), a new album (Nowhere Now), is scheduled for a July 5, 2011 release.
Rarities Sampler:
(Click picture to download)
The records:
Seven Stories EP
Well, you’ll find me back in Athens, but I got nothing left to dream or chase after.
Seeing as I don’t have the two previous out-of-print albums (Ghost Town and Compass), I’m stuck starting with Seven Stories. This is a stripped-down, stark album, recorded in a friend of Plunket’s kitchen in Athens, GA. Surprisingly, the sound quality is very good. Plunket sounds a lot like Richard Buckner here. This EP consists of six intimate tales of love lost, and an interesting cover of The Smiths’ “There’s a Light That Never Goes Out.” On the six originals, it’s only Plunket and his acoustic guitar, beautifully accented by Susan Rose’s viola and Marlow Sanchez’s mandolin. Fans of Springsteen’s Nebraska and Earle’s Train A Comin’ will enjoy Seven Stories.
Ten Mile Grace
So we cut our teeth on rock and roll, broke our hearts and sold our souls.
Ten Mile Grace is a fantastic, late-night, headphones-on album. The warm, open production expertly highlights the excellent songwriting of Plunket. The acoustic guitars sound so crisp. John Neff’s pedal steel and Plunket’s Springsteen-inspired harmonica provide the perfect melancholic accents to these cry-in-your-beer tales of heartbreak and escape. I’d be remiss to not mention the incredible banjo that colors the gorgeous “Three Sixteen.” Amy Dykes’ harmonizing vocals are angelic and provide outstanding balance to Plunket’s throaty baritone. The vibe on this record reminds me a lot of Whiskeytown’s Faithless Street with its balance of brokenhearted, country-flavored ballads and amplified punk-fueled songs. The songs on Ten Mile Grace that burn are “Dragged Back In,” “St. Paul,” and “Sanchez!” The epic, hazy closer, “Streets Look Empty,” represents the perfect balance of country balladry, accented with pedal steel and harmonica, and punk energy courtesy of a couple soaring guitar solos. These plugged-in moments bring to mind what Ryan Adams sang on Faithless Street - “You say you wanna play country, but you’re in a punk rock band.” Whether or not that is the case, Ten Mile Grace clearly illustrates Plunket & Co. are comfortable wearing either hat.
Are Men
Just say there’s no Monday morning, there’s only Saturday night.
Well, if you were expecting a continuation of the Whiskeytown vibe conjured up on Ten Mile Grace, you are in for a surprise. Are Men is a rowdy, boozy record that shares a similar spirit with such 70’s “Outlaw” albums like Waylon Jennings’ Honky Tonk Heroesand Jerry Jeff Walker’s ¡Viva Terlingua! With its sing-a-long choruses and loose, drunken vibe, Are Men is a the perfect soundtrack to an evening of cheap domestic beer consumption and rabble rousing with your closest buddies. Every dive bar and honky tonk in America should have this record in their juke box. The ramshackle vibe on this record is not without irony. Up to this point, The Weight has been an ever-changing collection of musicians. The Are Men lineup, consisting of Fletcher C. Johnson on guitar, piano, and harmonica, Johnny Pockets on pedal steel and organ, Will Noland on bass, and J. Ellis on drums, is the most stable one Plunket has ever had. With the exception of “Sunday Driver” and “Hillbilly Highway,” the electric guitar dominates this record. We also get less harmonica this time around, but we are introduced to some excellent organ courtesy of Johnny Pockets who gets it rolling when he isn’t working the pedal steel. The Weight are not reinventing the wheel here, but this album does add another dimension to the sound Plunket cultivated on Seven Stories and Ten Mile Grace. He can hunker down and pour his heart out with tales of heartbreak, but he can also round up the fellas, tap the keg, and play some good, old-fashioned rock and roll, with just the right amount of twang.
Summer Sessions
I may not be strivin’, but I’m survivin’.
This LP was recorded during the summer of 2009 by Ed Rawls and Justin McNeight at Living Room Studios in Atlanta, GA. Limited to 300 copies, it was a vinyl-only release that was sold at their shows. The remaining copies from the tour were distributed online by Colonel Records and recently sold out. However, it appears that it might be re-released this summer on a wider variety of formats, under a different title - Nowhere Now. I come to this conclusion because the three songs up on the Band Camp site for Nowhere Now (“Nowhere Now,” “Grand Street,” and “Did You Ever Know, Boy?”) appear on Summer Sessions. Also, the Band Camp site states that Nowhere Now was recorded at The Living Room by Ed Rawls. However, there is no information on the band’s primitive website or their record label’s site regarding an upcoming release. The lack of information and publicity for this band is part of their charm I suppose. Summer Sessions is a much tighter record than Are Men is. The organ is more prominently featured, giving it a more of a 60’s rock record vibe. This vibe is never stronger than on the Fletcher C. Johnson-penned track “Did You Ever Know, Boy.” Johnson sounds like a cross between The Kinks’ Ray Davies and The Animals’ Eric Burton. The track could pass for a lost outtake from either band. I hope the record is re-released this summer, because it is a really strong collection of ten originals and a cover (the band does an excellent job with Albert Frank Beddoe’s old folk song, “Copper Kettle”). For those that are unfamiliar with Summer Sessions, three of the tracks (all excellent) can be heard here.
Well it was worth every cent and I love that album. Also picked up 10 Mile Grace which is just as good but much more dark and depressing. Looking forward to getting the new one.
