Seasick Steve: Sonic Soul Surfer

To answer an old rhetorical question: yes an old dog can learn new tricks, but he’s got to want to. Seasick Steve is an old dog; he says as much on Sonic Soul Surfer. Hell, there are two full songs dedicated to four-legged companions. Much like the hounds on “Dog Gonna Play” and “Swamp Dog”, Seasick Steve wheezes and growls his way through Sonic Soul Surfer, showing a few new cards up his sleeve, but mostly sticking to a tired and true blues crawl.

Seasick Steve has always played off of his outsider image. This was a guy that was hanging out with Joni Mitchell in the ’70s and Modest Mouse in the ’90s, all the while occasionally roaming the states with only his guitar to his name. He’s only been recording solo albums under his current stage name since 2004, and it leads to a sort of ground that can grow outlandish myths, if only he wanted to do something more interesting with it. His trade mark Three-String Trance Wonder guitar accompanies him here, slinging the same silvery lines over and over again. Seasick Steve, when he’s in blues mode, only has two gears; slow grooves (“We Be Moving”) or crunchy, churning riffs (“Dog Gonna Play”). In another era, Steve’s throw back sound might be tantalizing, but we live in a time where Jack White and the Black Keys are two of the biggest acts in the world. Every time Steve turns to his comfort zone, he just sounds like the millions of other U.S. blues-garage rock bands.

That’s not to say that Steve doesn’t spin these songs with a personal touch. Despite his name, Steve is a sturdy singer. He’s got 70 some-odd years under his belt, so his voice sound sunburnt and worn, but his baritone growl is always the center of the songs. His voice might be distinct, but it’s still not enough to pull formula holding songs like “Roy’s Gang” or “Swamp Dog” away from predictability.

Sonic Soul Surfer is at its best when Steve tries some experimentation. “In Peaceful Dreams” is an Appalachian death-dirge, with Steve howling over a start-and-stop banjo that eventually teams up with a sinister fiddle. The southern affectation Steve puts on, along with the malicious folk backdrop, make it feel like an extra song from the Cold Mountain soundtrack. The lovely folk ballad “Right on Time” has Steve revealing a tender falsetto that’s wounded yet potent. The whispered finale “Heart Full of Scars” has Steve asking “can a soul travel so far?” over muted guitar. Even more so than “Right on Time”, it’s quietly stunning.

From that trio of songs, it’s clear that Steve could do more with his sound, but he’s hunkered down in the gritty blues shuffle, making Sonic Soul Surfer one of the most frustrating albums of 2015 so far. There’s so much promise in Steve’s gruff vocals and guitar work, but re-re-fried blues is a dead end.