★★★★★
James McMurtry established himself as a prophetic, if ornery, political voice with his riled-up blue collar anthem "We Can't Make It Here Anymore" on 2005?s Childish Things. Now the Texas-based singer and songwriter has moved on to Just Us Kids (and as the similar titles suggest, both albums share a concern with the difficult changes that come with aging and a lifetime of thankless labor)...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2013-04-25
★★★★★
James McMurtry released that song in 2005, and seeing how things have slid even further into the shit since then, it's a good thing Lightning Rod Records has re-mastered and re-released these two examples of pissed-off American songwriting at its finest. The son of Western novelist Larry McMurtry, James McMurtry does that most difficult, and in this day and age, most needed of things: he speaks the truth...
- www.ink19.com
2011-05-17
★★★★★
James McMurtry has never been one to mince words, and, just like his previous releases, the gruff-voiced singer's self-produced ninth album bears witness to that. Full of bold-faced, opinionated references to political figures and the sad state of the Union, "Just Us Kids" picks up where 2005's "Childish Things" left off, pointing out America's blemishes and embarrassments all too easily...
- www.soundspike.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
For most country music connoisseurs, James McMurtry's brand of literate country rock isn't as well-known as the literary works of his father Larry McMurtry. While James may not be known to the mainstream audience, he has a loyal, somewhat rabid audience of fans all over the world. As if to prove my point, James' most recent release, Live In Europe is a CD/DVD collection of eight tracks on the CD and six tracks on the DVD...
- roughstock.com
2010-12-07
★★★★★
I've been living with folkie James McMurtry's Just Us Kids for the last few weeks deciding how I feel about it. His previous album Childish Things had one great track, "We Can't Make it Here," which spelled out these hard times with a ruthlessly precise deadpan. I kept waiting for the song that hit me like that, and I'm still waiting. But it's unfair to ask McMurtry to deliver one song as good as his best song on every album...
- www.offbeat.com
2010-11-09
★★★★★
Great things were expected from James McMurtry: He could dazzle with analogy, metaphor and other lit-class devices, and his auspicious lineage (he's the son of novelist Larry McMurtry, who wrote Lonesome Dove) helped corral John Mellencamp to produce his 1989 debut. But pop music has no particular use for analogy, and McMurtry's implacable, kicked-dog voice proved an acquired taste...
- www.blender.com
2010-08-22
★★★★★
The leaden subtlety of this natural-born storyteller's baritone drawl has never given anybody boogie fever, not even on 2004's excellent de facto best-of, Live in Aught-Three. This album won't change that. But the Texan's songwriting has become so impassioned that it's enough in itself to move the crowd...
- www.blender.com
2010-08-22
★★★★★
James McMurtry might not be the first name that comes to mind when the word "rocker" is mentioned, but once again he proves that whatever self-imposed restrictions are in place for his studio recordings, the gloves come off in concert. Live in Europe takes the baton from Live in Aught Three in stride and turns the pace up a notch thanks to a stellar quartet of backing musicians and a catalogue of material that continues to stockpile chestnuts...
- www.popmatters.com
2010-02-26
★★★★★
No text for this review; see http://robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2010-02-12