"Brand New Faith" EP from mat d and the Profane Saints

I met Matt DeRiso over the internet last year, running a no-budget bar band called The Profane Saints out of Sioux City, Iowa. He released a cd that perked my ears up bigtime, because the feel was dark, half-drunk, and original as hell.

So when I heard he had five new tunes out on an EP "Brand New Faith", I was curious enough to beg a listen.

On first impression, when Matt's vocals kicked in I was a bit disappointed. Not in the material - this guy writes dirty bar boogie that will leave nicotine stains on your eardrums - but in the production on the first track. See, Matt's got this boomer voice, but it seemed occasionally hidden behind the band. Yeah, the band kicks ass, but I wanna hear the WORDS, dude.

But I'm a lyric weenie. The shit-kickers won't mind, they're the ones buying rounds. Who cares about some neurotic poet sipping tea in the corner?

That being said, the more I listened to this thing, the more I had to play it again. The first tune, Lye Soap Cigarettes and Gasoline, has hidden lyrical gems all through it -

"Thrift store quickie underneath a truck stop sunrise
Keeps the soul alive
Pack of cigarettes and a ghost in the back seat
There wasn't nothin' to do but drive"

Can't argue with that.

There are five out of five notable tunes on this disc, like Shine On Me, where it feels like Bob Dylan meets Jimmy Swaggart fronting Molly Hatchet after a weekend in Bangkok.

Betty Got Saved bemoans the loss of a first-rate sexual adventuress, in graphic detail.

Bound For Glory salutes that stitched-up-knife-wound optimism that I just dig the hell out of.

Finally, This Truck Makes More Money After Midnight is an anthem for everyone who has ever found an honest lifestyle - how shall we say this - confining.

Do yourself a big favor, trundle over to matdandtheprofanesaints.com and meet this strange dude for yourself. Give his tunes a listen. Buy some stuff. And if you are ever trapped in Iowa, near a honky-tonk called Sweet Fanny's, roll on in and shake his hand for me between sets.

But under no circumstances should you introduce him to your sister.