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This is easily the best benefit disc in years, for a few easy
reasons. Jon Langford's boys the Cosmonauts provide the continuity
that is the nemesis of most compilations. The Illinois Death Penalty
Moratorium Project provides the concept. Half the cuts are
narrative-rich nuggets mined from country music's rich past. And
except maybe for Waco Brother Dean Schlabowske's take on "Gary
Gilmore's Eyes," crime is an ugly, soul-vacuuming process all
throughout, rather than some hip uplink to transgression. Steve Earle
corrodes "Tom Dooley" from the inside out until it croaks like a
rusty muffler. Janet Bean sings "The Snakes Crawl at Night" as if it
had no metaphor. And if ya gotta trot out "Knoxville Girl" yet again,
Lord, let Handsome Family member Brett Sparks drag it through the mud
with his characteristic resigned dementia. Best in show: Chris
Ligon's (who?) self-penned (wha?) "The Great State of Texas," a
devastating 3/4 sung in the voice of a poor dumb schmuck who's found
himself on death row where his last everythings mean not a damn
thing, including this last song he's just recorded.
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