Cass McCombs, a dour, gifted, California born singer songwriter, cultivated his wandering sound (garage-folk, dollop of alt-country, as eclectic as Beck) living at campsites, on couches, and in cars from Northern California to Baltimore, Maryland. His lyrics weigh heavy but his delivery lightens the load. One of my favorites:
“Cast out of eden/tricked by a snake/brother killing brother/the mighty flood’s wake/glad I was not among/those kept off that boat/boy, they was much badder times/when the bible was wrote/then come slavery/then come curse/then come death-cloud/for the first birth/glad I was not living/I don’t mean to gloat/but boy! They was much badder times/when the bible was wrote…”
You’ll enjoy Cass McCombs if you’re already listening to Brazos, Panda Bear, or Papercuts.
Brooding vagabonds typically have some sense of morbidity to their lyrics or musings, McCombs does not deviate, stating that if he could design his tombstone it would read “Home at last.”
In order to win the pair of tickets to see Cass this Friday at BlackCat, answer this question for us in the comments: what words (three or less) would you place on your tombstone? You’ll have until Thursday, 7/14 to bring us all down. Go!
