Recording information: Harvey Moltzs' Living Room, Tuscon (1993).
This album followed the concise and exemplary CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE. It's a wonderful sprawl of 21 songs that show Giant Sand in its every guise. There are instrumental jams that sparkle with immediacy and surprise, unfolding in first-take innocence and glee. Howe Gelb and his cohorts in Arizona can execute a Dylan-esque reverie as well as they can handle a Neil Young & Crazy Horse-like basher. Rainer Ptacek's adds tasteful dobro playing to the few tracks on which he guests. Other visitors include Al Perry, Susan Cowsill, and Vicki Peterson. Though PURGE & SLOUCH was recorded at different times and locations, it jells as one cohesive work because of Gelb's engaging and unmistakable character.
Professional Reviews
Entertainment Weekly (1/28/94, p.56) - "...With its squeaky guitars and cow-punk melodies, the group lurches into a world of its own, resulting in music with a ramshackle charm...." - Rating: B+
Option (8/94, pp.100-101) - "...like Neil Young or Gram Parsons, he inhabits a territory somewhere in between those two extremes, a tuneful, potent guitarist and songwriter who can inexplicably and unexpectedly veer in any direction..."
