by Steven McDonald

Bluegrass with attitude. A very weird attitude, in fact. It isn't too difficult to imagine Bad Livers communing with Sugar Hill Records' other satirical cowboys, the Austin Lounge Lizards (with Terry Allen sitting in on the odd session, of course). Industry and Thrift manages to range all the way from the less sensible edges of bluegrass (of which there are many) to the bluegrass fringes of klezmer (which they seem to have had a hand in building themselves, with some inspiration from various worldly weirdos such as 3 Mustaphas 3). The result is an amusing and highly eclectic set that never stays in any single place long enough to get firmly categorized. A fun record.