40 Miler

Former Avail frontman Tim Barry continues his foray into sociopolitical folk while retaining the surly voice and bold delivery of his hardcore days. With his fifth studio album, the prolific Barry taps deeper into the working man’s blues with rootsy songs that resonate with the timelessness of hard luck. Barry opens 40 Miler with an intro that plays like a chain gang recording piping through an old wooden radio before “Wezeltown” gets things going with acoustic guitar, banjo, handclaps, footstomps, and world-weary lyrics that keep the song grounded in 21st-century relevance. “Driver Pull” follows, with Barry singing the lyrics of a hobo’s lament as a violin drones and minimal parlor-piano parts give the tune a lilting melancholy. Speaking of hoboes, “Hobo Lullaby” features a howling harmonica approximating a lonesome train whistle as Barry croons along. He also offers a tune to the Occupy movement with “Banker’s Dilemma,” where he sings “I ain’t workin’ no more/So credit companies, take warning.”