Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?

Part of the appeal of Tyler Childers is his sense of control -- his songs and albums are never any longer than they need to be -- so the prospect of a triple album from the Americana troubadour is alarming: it suggests his focus has become diffuse, even blurry. As it turns out, Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? is, in its own way, a testament to Childers vision, telegraphing his clarity and ambition. The three discs present three different versions of the same eight songs. The Hallelujah Version showcases the mighty Southern funk of his longtime backing band the Food Stamps by capturing them playing live in the studio, the Jubilee Version expands these tracks with additional accouterments, and the Joyful Noise incarnation is an instrumental mash-up that contains only hints of the original versions. The Joyful Noise plays like an intriguing, elusive epilogue to the main story delivered by the paired Hallelujah and Jubilee versions. There, Childers mines his fusion of the secular and spiritual, teasing out the grooves and majesty with the Food Stamps, a group that can dig deep into their rhythms and soar with their solos. Hearing them play on Hallelujah is thrilling, yet having these tracks graced with horns, strings, and backing vocals -- and sometimes, as on "Two Coats" or "Jubilee," additional vocals or samples -- makes it clear that Childers vision rhymes with the cosmic American music of the early 1970s, country-rock that encompasses soul, Dixieland jazz, funk, and rock. Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? doesnt feel like a retro throwback as much as a continuation, a record that comfortably fits into American roots lineage while making a convincing case for Tyler Childers as a singular artist. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine