The Sadies "Pure Diamond Gold" 1999

Dirty, damaged, raggedy and surreal, the Sadies' brand of country draws blades tempered in the flames of urban decay. Dark yet playful, like a handful of sleeping snakes, intriguing and sensuous in one of those dark-eyes-from-across-the-bar kind of ways. - The Coast
Few bands approach the sheer versatility of the Sadies, live or on disc. On Pure Diamond Gold (the follow-up to their stellar debut, Precious Moments), the band lurches from Johnny Cash-inspired storytelling country ("It's Nothing to Me," "I Tried Not To") to Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet influenced-surf instrumentals ("Rat Creek," "Venison Creek), while veering off into Nuggets-era garage rock ("Talkin' Down," "Walking Boss") and hillbilly rock and gospel ("16 Mile Creek," "16 Mile Creek Breakdown," "Higher Power"). Pure Diamond Gold consists of songs recorded on two separate occasions -- one a 24-track session with Steve Albini, the second an eight-track session (dubbed the "seven o'clock chicken" session) with Don Pyle (of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet) -- however, despite the differences, the songs hang together well as a whole. In addition to the slew of strong tracks already mentioned, the Sadies best moments here come in the form of the haunting "Eastwinds" (with vocals provided by Catherine Irwin of Freakwater), the surrealistic plane crash narrative of "With a Splash," and the slow-building instrumental "Cloud Rider" (complete with "howling" provided by the family dog). For fans of country-tinged, twangy rock, it doesn't get much better than this. - Review by Robert Kaups
trax:
01 16 Mile Creek 02 Rat Creek 03 It's Nothing to Me 04 Medicine Ball 05 Higher Power 06 Only Good One 07 Starling Auto 08 I Tried Not To 09 Reward of Gold 10 Talkin' Down 11 Friendly Devil 12 Spark Catcher 13 Eastwinds 14 Stinking Creek 15 Venison Creek 16 Walking Boss 17 Locust Eater 18 With a Splash 19 Cloud Rider 20 16 Mile Creek Breakdown