Cover Magazine

RESTOCK. Howe Gelb wants you to know that he's too fucking cool. As he starts to sing Marty Robbins' "El Paso," his voice barely lifts above a whisper; the acoustic guitar strums lightly, poignantly behind him. You sense that drummer Joe Convertino is wearing a suit, and that it looks really sharp. The melodrama of this gunfighter ballad comes through, but suavely, and even when Gelb stops in the middle to shred through Neil Young's "Out on the Weekend," it still sounds bad- ass.
Giant Sand is Howe Gelb's one-man-band, plus guests. Operating out of Tucson, Arizona, Giant Sand has been performing original material since the mid-80s that loosely sits in the camps of rock and alt-country. Their latest album, Cover Magazine, is a cover album of classic (and kitschy) country and rock songs. This kind of record is usually dismissed as a second-tier project-- just like live albums, and for basically the same reason: going in, you're not expecting a major, original statement. It's true that Gelb never sounds like he's breaking a sweat here, but there's invention and heart in these tunes, and the range is impressive-- stretching from Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash to P.J. Harvey and Goldfrapp.