Big Ugly

Album review

Fust claims big-city Durham, North Carolina, as home but the anthemic, Lynyrd Skynyrd-esque opening chords of Big Ugly identifies the album as what it is: a straightforward, capital-S Southern, country rock album. So, when lead singer and songwriter Aaron Dowdy informs us that "They tore down the hospital/ Out on Route 11," the listener should be fully prepared for a ride through the sticks. Like those small towns, there's more to see than meets the eye here.

The crunchy guitar intro of "Mountain Language" leads to a road trip jam with a killer vocal hook—"But if we can make it up the mountain again/ We'll be back with country friends." There's a divide there, though the city mice and country mice appear bound to reunite. At first glance, it seems Fust misses small-town talk but Dowdy goes out of his way to make sure we know that despite the inherent longing in the song, "We use yours, but I still dream in mine." Big Ugly is filled with these catchy, incisive moments where divides are cleverly and kindly defined.

"Bleached" paints portraits of "boring angels" and earthbound old friends seemingly long out of touch. Again, the divide is set—those angels and friends lead a different life but their distance is cut by memory. Slow and tenderly plodding, "What's His Name" provides a break in the rock action and acts as a perfect introduction to Big Third's final third where the sad songs run roughshod and provide texture. The acoustic title track has a river of slow fiddle running through it that accentuates the song's introspection.

By the time album closer "Heart Song" foists a steel guitar on the listener, Dowdy is cooking his own dinner, realizing that the communication gulfs he's detailed are his burden to bear. "How have I been? Have I been OK?" It's almost impossible to answer small talk questions if you are caught up in big thoughts, and Big Ugly certainly deals in simple philosophical largesse if you drive with it long enough. Out the window you might see the ruins of the old hospital. Someone's coming to urbanize that area, and if that's not enough to set your mind wandering, then maybe you've been a city mouse for too long. © Jeff Laughlin/Qobuz