Blitzen Trapper's Field Rexx is an extremely pleasant album that grows with each successive listen. It might even take you multiple listens to form a cohesive opinion. However, one immediate flaw may be the album's length; it seems to contain a little too much filler. The band apparently has a large archive of recordings, and some of the lesser tracks should have been left there. One or both of "Love I Exclaim" and "Love (reprise)" could have been done without.
When the album shines, though, it really shines, such as on "Asleep For Days," which should really be on the radio; and the song "40 Stripes," which wouldn't sound out of place on some of Neil Young's earlier albums. Indeed, Blitzen Trapper deserve serious consideration for heirs to the throne of the great alt country Americana movement, a position abdicated by Wilco over the last few years. There are a number of different sounds on the album ("Lux and Royal Shopper" recalls The Go! Team, of all things), but the tracks with the most obvious debt to "alt country" are among the strongest. Blitzen Trapper obviously have a talent for creating a number of different kinds of music, which can leave the overall feel of the album as being a tad inconsistent, as if they weren't really sure what they wanted the whole album to sound like.
Field Rexx may also suffer slightly under the weight of the old "hey, this sounds just like..." game, as Blitzen Trapper can sound like any number of artists. Among other things, one can explain the group's sound as being akin to what Bruce Springsteen fronting The Cars, or a less self serious Jakob Dylan would sound like. It is the sense of fun, when they are having it, that compliments the album most. Keep Zach Braff away from Blitzen Trapper at all costs.
1. James & Larry Earley (1982)
2. Lux & Royal Shopper
3. Love I Exclaim!
4. Summer Twin
5. Cold Gold Diamond
6. Concrete Heaven
7. 40 Stripes
8. Asleep for Days
9. Dreamers & Giants
10. Turkey in the Straw (James 1982)
11. Dirty Pearls
12. Leopard's Will To Live
13. Country Rain
14. Moving Minors over County Lines
15. Love (reprise)
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