Album Review: Carsie Blanton & The Burning Hell - Everything is Great
It begins with a phone call between singer-songwriter Carsie Blanton and her pal, Mathias Kom, of the Canadian band the Burning Hell, whoās checking in on the American musician and her country. Soon, the title track from their collaborative LP, Everything is Great - itās sarcasm - turns into a campfire number with Blanton accompanied by guitar, banjo and fiddle.
Everything is great/everything is fine/everything is getting better all of the time/everybody knows that president's insane/but nobody wants to talk about what people do if their president's insane, she sings.
Everything is Great is an adult album - profanity alert - disguised as a childrenās LP; a protest record that leaves the listener as happy as angry.
This is where a chorus of puppets gives a real-world lesson - Itās simpler that you might thing because the purpose of a system is what it does - in banking, war and school on āStafford Beerā and mocks Americaās claim to not engage in political violence by listing its politically violent engagements on āPeace & Freedom.ā The āStar Spangled Bannerā-infused guitar solo is a nice touch.
āCanadian Flagā finds Kom teaching Boy Scouts and Girl Guides how to save themselves when lost in frigid temperatures without burning the banner. Itās not quite the Donner Party, but it is quite gruesome, making its sing-song, happy-go-lucky arrangement all the more delightful.
Flamenco stylings dominate āPrivate Equityā and āLive Laugh Loot;ā āFascists are Goodā is melancholy folk number; and āHost the Guillotineā wraps the dream of offing billionaires in a jaunty polka to ensure listeners Blanton & the Burning Hell are only joking about murder.
Probably.
Grade card: Carsie Blanton & The Burning Hell - Everything is Great - A-
6/23/26
