When is a
Todd Snider album not a
Todd Snider album? When it's the work of
Elmo Buzz, which is the story behind
Snider's 2016 release,
Eastside Bulldog. For the uninitiated,
Elmo Buzz is an alter ego
Snider created so he could play club shows without violating exclusivity deals with promoters, but instead of just using a different name,
Snider gave
Elmo a distinctly weird personality all his own. As imagined by
Snider,
Elmo Buzz is a crazy guy living in East Nashville who is obsessed with booze, girls, cars, and
Hank Williams, Jr., not necessarily in that order. To take
Snider at his word, for his
Elmo Buzz shows the band consists of whatever friends who show up by showtime, and most of the songs are made up on the spot, with "
Buzz" free associating lyrics while the band bashes out basic three-chord rock.
Snider took the
Elmo Buzz concept into the studio for a couple of free-for-all recording sessions, and the result was
Eastside Bulldog, which is easily the loopiest and hardest-rocking album
Snider has delivered to date. Here,
Snider and his pals sound like they're well oiled and wired on a combination of cheap vodka and Mountain Dew, and they bash through these tunes as if they're playing the last set at a frat party on Saturday night while dodging a barrage of beer cans. They also sound like they're having a great time, and if
Snider's lyrics here aren't exactly poetry, they're the work of a smart guy having a lot of fun playing dumb, and the rollicking energy of this music is no joke.
Eastside Bulldog doesn't sound like a typical
Todd Snider album, but it's very much a product of his irreverent wit, and if you're looking for some tunes to turn up the party in the 30 minutes before last call, this could be just what you need. ~ Mark Deming