Some albums leap from the speakers and grab you by the throat, heralding their greatness at first listen, only to end up six weeks later languishing forgotten at the bottom of the pile. Not so in the case of You Can’t Save Everybody, an album that’s gentle, finely crafted songs gradually worm their way into your brain until you later realize the CD hasn‘t left your changer in weeks.
While You Can’t Save Everybody is modestly produced and lacks complex instrumentation, it rewards repeated listening with an appreciation for the interplay of the musicians and the nuances of its lyrics. Of course, Kieran Kane and Kevin Welch are old smoothies at this point. They’ve each had the big-label contract and some measure of commercial success, and they’ve managed to keep their Dead Reckoning cooperative afloat through various distribution deals and, no doubt, lack of the same. Despite major talent, they lack marketability and a convenient label: country, folk, Americana? Who knows. Perhaps all of the above.
And they touch on this problem on “Everybody’s Working For The Man Again,” a gentle screed denouncing corporate greed and domination of music and retailing. Welch and Kane split vocal chores and writing, except for one cover, a sublime version of Ron Davies’ “Dark Eyed Gal.” Each one fills his singing with a trace of melancholy, which is carried through the music as well.
There’s a haunting beauty about You Can’t Save Everybody, as though it were the work of three friends picking on the porch and reminiscing about their loves, dead friends and their own mortality. This is particularly true on Welch‘s “Till I‘m Too Old To Die Young”: “I have had some real good friends / I thought would never die / But now all that I got left of them / Are these tear drops in my eyes / So if I could have one wish today / And I know it would be done / I’d say everyone could stay / Till they’re too old to die young.”
Multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin adds some nice fiddle touches and the interplay among the three helps make You Can’t Save Everybody an album that ought to be on the shelf of everyone who likes alt.country, folk, Americana or whatever you want to call this rich, deep strain of American roots music.