Track Listing

1. Lament
2. Plaid Coat
3. Magnolia
4. Stadium Blitzer
5. LGO
6. Boil My Strings
7. Coppermine
8. Maria
9. Raining in Port Arthur
10. Dyin' Diamond
11. When the Money Comes Rolling In
12. I Ate the Haggis
13. Cold Bed
14. Pushed Her Down
15. Pine Island Bayou
16. I Like Drinking

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #232595 in Music
• Released on: 1998-04-07
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com's Best of 1998
As lively and wild as a mint-julep-inspired front-porch hootenanny, Stadium Blitzer rollicks and rolls, the best record of the year for summer barbecues and mosquito-infested evenings. A junkyard orchestra of found and secondhand instruments--including accordian, mandolin, loose-stringed guitars, oft-tuned pianos, whistles, grinder wheels, and even crickets--staggers through loose arrangements that fall somewhere on the map between Texas hoedowns, Mexican fiestas, New Orleans stomps, and Los Angeles mosh pits. --Tod Nelson

Amazon.com
Stadium Blitzer is a shambling, loose, slack-jawed mess. And, my, what a beautiful one. "I like drinking," the boys stammer on the song of the same name, and it's not hard to believe that much of this album was written under the influence on some hot-summer, mosquito-infected porch, an alcohol infused acoustic hootenany. Rambling guitars, wandering accordians, meandering mandolins--and don't forget the handclaps, grinder wheels, sizzles, chest thumps and "accidental noises"--mesh with Claude Bernard's boozy vocals and suggest a mix that lies somewhere between bluesy Americana and New Orleans' stomp. While the Gourds sound achingly tender and lost on slow cuts such as "Raining in Port Arthur," it's when they rev up and let loose on such barn burners as "Magnolia" and "LGO" that the real magic starts. An amazing record, sure to stay in heavy rotation throughout the hot months. --Tod Nelson

No Depression
[T]he Gourds have concocted a ramblin', shamblin', rumblin', stumblin' mix of plucked and beaten-on acoustic instrumentation. The vibe throughout is casually relaxed, an often raucous and occasionally pretty affair on which acoustic guitar, bass, accordion, mandolin, and "traps" are the principal mediums.... "Maria" is a lovely border cojunto-via-Guatemala love letter, while Russell's "Raining in Port Arthur" is stirring southern soul set against a peaceful backdrop of acoustic guitar, accordion, and crickets before giving way to plaintive piano.

Customer Reviews

One of the most talented bands you've never heard of America
Undoubtedly one of the most origingal bands out there today. If you are an Uncle Tupelo fan, you will definitely relate to their style. I've seen them twice in there hometown of Austin,TX. and they are just as good live as they are on CD. If you are looking for something new,you won't be disappointed in these guys.

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A fresh, vivid, jubilant celebration of American music.
Stadium Blitzer is a fresh, vivid, jubilant celebration of Americana, by a band that is destined to become a cornerstone in the reclamation of honest, rough-hewn, emotive acoustic music. The influences here run from Bill Monroe to Townes Van Zandt to Bruce Springstein to the Minutemen. It's a very live-sounding album, evoking the spontaneous energy of a lamp-lit late night jam session. The songs are loosely stitched musical folktales, driven by the energy and chemistry of one of the tightest bands recording today. What is most impressive about Stadium Blitzer is the emotional depth it achieves, from the delicacy of a quirky ballad such as "I Like Drinkin'" to the intoxicating thrill of "Pine Island Bayou." Overall, this music is so purely fun that it's easy to get swept away.

The Four E's: Essential, Exuberant, Eclectic, and Enjoyable
Yes, the vocals may catch you off guard at first until you realize how well everything from the vocals to the percussion to the guitars to all the instruments foment into a frothy aural stew that is as original as anything I've heard for the past 15 years. The Gourds are my favorite intact and performing band.

The variety of songs and styles runs the gamut from Dyin' Diamond or LGO, songs that will nearly cause you to levitate with energy to the sodden, gospel-tinged I Like Drinking. And where the hell else are you going to find anyone this side of Scotland singing about eating hagis? This CD is just chock full of great tunes, the stuff of life interpreted through the haze of smoke and drink and sitting around on porches and eating pot-luck dinners and seeing the sadness and the glory of life.

But you better check out the samples first because the Gourds are not your mainstream anything.