Artist: Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs
Drums: Jay Bellerose
Album: God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise
Label: Stone Dwarf – RCA
Release Date: 17-Aug-2010
DD Rating: 
Based on the content of late, this may seem like an odd review. My musical tastes are all over the map, and I go through phases of contrast as stark as an Impressionist painter’s. So, yes, Avenged Sevenfold yesterday, Ray LaMontagne today. Hell, maybe in the same car ride.
The music of Ray LaMontagne was another happy discovery while I worked at Newbury Comics. We had boxes and boxes of promo CDs up for grabs before they went into the trash. Most of it was utter crap for which the dumpster was a fate too good, but I would regularly grab a handful, never knowing when I’d stumble upon something like Ray’s 2004 album Trouble. I was immediately—and continue to be—a fan.
I saw him live in Boston in support of 2008’s Gossip in the Grain. It was a terrific show. On drums was Ethan Johns, Ray’s multi-instrumentalist and producer for the first three albums. Ethan’s playing has an amazing feel that was very inspiring to me. When I’m not dreaming that I can play blast beats like a machine, I dream that I can have that sort of deep, “sloppy” groove that sits so perfectly in the music.
Jay Bellerose’s playing is cut from the same cloth, and on the new album he perfectly fills the role of groove keeper and texture creator. The standout track is “Repo Man”, which is a gritty, funky tune in the vein of “How Come”, “Three More Days”, and “You Are the Best Thing” on prior albums. The title track has dynamic fills throughout that begin bombastically and end on a subtle decrescendo with a big, thin crash cymbal that is more sensed than heard as it bleeds into the next phrase. But some of the most interesting stuff is barely audible, like the delicate, elusive grooves on “New York City’s Killing Me”, “Beg Steal or Borrow”, and “For The Summer”.
Ray’s voice is as distinctive and emotive as ever. The songwriting isn’t quite as strong on this album as on his first three, but God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise is nonetheless another great offering from Ray LaMontagne.