James McMurtry The Black Dog And The Wandering Boy

Critic's Take

James McMurtry opens The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy with a killer cover of “Laredo (Small Dark Something)” and never lets the urgency drop. He deploys dry, lethal humor and quotidian eloquence across songs like “Sons of the Second Sons” and the title track to examine father-son ties and American memory with a thunderous groove. The record mixes dark detail and mundane fact so the best songs - notably “Sons of the Second Sons” and “Laredo (Small Dark Something)” - feel both personal and broadly political. Horowitz-style observation and measured praise sit side by side, making clear why listeners asking "best tracks on The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy" will keep returning to these cuts.

Key Points

• The best song is "Sons of the Second Sons" for its quotidian eloquence and powerful closing lines.
• The album's core strengths are sharp wit, topical storytelling, and a blend of dark detail with mundane fact.

Themes

Critic's Take

James McMurtry returns with The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy, a record where the best tracks - notably “Laredo (Small Dark Something)” and “Sailing Away” - show his gift for vivid storytelling and scorching guitar. Hynes writes with an appreciative, conversational tone, noting how the opener reads like classic McMurtry and how “Sailing Away” stands out as a band-centered highlight. The title track and songs like “South Texas Lawman” and “Annie” underline his knack for non-preachy political rants and bittersweet portraits of aging. Overall the reviewer frames these songs as the strongest evidence that McMurtry remains a singular, underrated songwriter and performer.

Key Points

• The best song is the opener because its roaring, convincing voice and classic McMurtry imagery make it feel like his own composition.
• The album’s strengths are vivid storytelling, clear political commentary, and strong band playing that foreground McMurtry’s underrated guitar and vocals.

Themes

Critic's Take

James McMurtry returns with The Black Dog And The Wandering Boy, a lean, unvarnished set where the best songs - notably “South Texas Lawman” and “Sons of the Second Sons” - cut deep into loss, ageing and political unease. Barlass writes in a plain, admiring register, celebrating gritty arrangements and frank storytelling while highlighting the album title track as anthemic and bluesy. The review praises the opener “Laredo (Small Dark Something)” as a sizzling, gritty rocker that sets the tone, and singles out “Broken Freedom Song” as a fitting, blistering closer. Overall the critic frames the record as Americana without sweeteners, an honest collection where character-driven narratives and sparse instrumentation make the best tracks stand out.

Key Points

• The best song is "South Texas Lawman" because its resigned vocal and vivid character detail make it an early highlight.
• The album’s core strengths are unflinching storytelling, gritty Americana instrumentation, and topical, character-driven lyrics.

Themes

Critic's Take

James McMurtry keeps sharpening his observational songwriting on The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy, and the best tracks cohere around moral portraiture and social critique. The title track, “The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy”, turns a personal family hallucination into taut guitar-driven storytelling, while “Sons of the Second Sons” is a slow-burning standout that skewers authoritarianism and historical racism. “South Texas Lawman” offers McMurtry’s usual sympathy for flawed characters, and “Annie” smolders with a grudging political rebuke. This is protest music from the salt of the earth, songs that feel more urgent than his recent work.

Key Points

• The title track’s personal origin and taut guitar work make it the album’s emotional centerpiece.
• McMurtry’s strengths are moral portraiture, political critique, and compassionate portrayals of flawed characters.

Themes

Critic's Take

In his clear-eyed, narrative-driven manner Martin Gray finds the best songs on The Black Dog And The Wandering Boy to be searingly human - notably the title track “The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy” and the closer “Broken Freedom Song” which act as the emotional anchors. Gray praises the muscular opener “Laredo (Small Dark Something)” and highlights more immediate refrains in “Back to Coeur d’Alene” and “Sailing Away” as among the album's most addictive moments. The review reads like a defence of craft over gimmickry, insisting these best tracks prove McMurtry's enduring knack for distilled vignettes and impeccable arrangements. This is a consistently strong record that lodges itself in the subconscious long after play, making the case decisively for these songs as the best tracks on the album.

Key Points

• The title track is best for its personal emotional core tied to McMurtry’s father’s hallucinations and powerful delivery.
• The album’s core strengths are narrative songwriting, impeccable arrangements, and a balance of political bite with human storytelling.

Themes

Critic's Take

James McMurtry sounds at once wearier and sharper on The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy, and the best songs - notably “South Texas Lawman” and the title track “The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy” - crystallize that late-career clarity. Pelavin’s prose hangs on McMurtry’s plainspoken images and aching details, praising how “South Texas Lawman” growls about getting old and how the title track conjures dementia and loss. He also highlights quieter triumphs like “Annie” and “Back to Coeur d’Alene” for vocal warmth and a haunting working-musician chorus. The review reads like an endorsement: this is McMurtry at the peak of his powers, songs that linger and sting in equal measure.

Key Points

• The best song is "South Texas Lawman" for its raw, central meditation on aging and McMurtry’s visceral delivery.
• The album’s core strengths are plainspoken storytelling, intimate production, and thematic focus on aging, memory, and the American working life.

Themes

Critic's Take

James McMurtry sees memory and small-town ruin etched across The Black Dog And The Wandering Boy, and the best tracks on The Black Dog And The Wandering Boy—notably “Laredo (Small Dark Something)” and “Broken Freedom Song”—carry that rough-hewn gravity with economy and wit. Sterdan’s prose praises the record as a set of story-songs and character sketches that are funny and sad in the same breath, making “Laredo (Small Dark Something)” a standout opioid blues and “Broken Freedom Song” a fitting, elegiac closer. The result reads like a late-career artist scavenging his past and reclaiming voice, songs that sound spontaneous and alive rather than merely well-crafted. Overall, the album rewards listeners seeking vivid narratives and plainspoken musicality.

Key Points

• The best song, “Laredo (Small Dark Something)”, is best for its raw opioid-blues testimony and emotional immediacy.
• The album’s core strengths are its richly drawn character sketches, spare Americana instrumentation, and a spontaneous, lived-in sound.

Themes