Steve Earle & Supersuckers
On the ambitiousEl Corazón, Steve Earle enlisted the Seattle-based punk outfit for the thundering "N.Y.C.", perhaps Earle's most ferocious performance. This Sub Pop EP furthers that punk/country collision, but the union is brief and inconclusive. Earle kicks off with a biting, acoustic reading of the Suckers' weird "Creepy Jackalope Eye" and almost makes sense out of lines like "I've got a jackalope face / I'm a jackalope guy." The Supersuckers then scorch through Earle's "Angel Is the Devil," a frantic rock-out that was probably more fun to record than it is to hear. TheStones' "Before They Make Me Run" marks their final collaboration, and though the song feels truncated, the lyrics are well suited to Earle's snarling delivery. The rest of the EP is filled out by original album versions of "Creepy Jackalope Eye" (fromLa Mano Cornuda) and "Angel Is the Devil" (fromTrain a Comin').--Roy Kasten