After a short stint with Canada’s favorite psychedelic country stars, The Sadies, the prolific ex-Mekon, Jon Langford is back with his Pine Valley Cosmonauts. The Executioner’s Last Songs: Volume II and III was designed as a protest project in order to bring attention to the injustice of capital punishment. Thematically the record is strong, both discs filled with songs of “murder, mob-law and cruel cruel punishment.� That said, however, despite the all-star cast of musicians from the bursting alt-country scene, the sheer length of the record can make listening to it in its entirety somewhat of a feat. Don’t get me wrong though. There is a wealth of good stuff here. Kurt Wagner of Lambchop makes an appearance to sing Tom Waits’ “The Fall of Troy� as does David Yow of the Jesus Lizard ( ! ) to sing Roger Miller’s “One Dyin’ and A Buryin’.� The performances are solid throughout. Langford performs a rousing rendition of “Delilah� while Mark Eitzel of American Music Club offers one of the record’s finest moments with “God’s Eternal Love.� Even the tracks sung by lesser known artists are stellar as in the case of Pat Brennan’s “Death Where Is Thy Sting� and Gurf Morlix’s “Hanging Me Tonight.� Given the subject matter, the tone of The Executioner’s Last Songs is subdued. The record is certainly not for everyone, however, if you’re up to the challenge, the record provides a dense listening experience. It’s difficult to put into words…all the songs on the record can be considered country, and yet, that word has come to take on many meanings. For the most part, the songs are slow, sparse and emotional. As such, if you’ve murdered someone recently and you are cowering in a corner with blood on your hands and the guilt eating away at you, this would make excellent listening as you wait for the police to arrive.

By Ryan Wugalter
Oct 7, 2003

After a short stint with Canada’s favorite psychedelic country stars, The Sadies, the prolific ex-Mekon, Jon Langford is back with his Pine Valley Cosmonauts. The Executioner’s Last Songs: Volume II and III was designed as a protest project in order to bring attention to the injustice of capital punishment. Thematically the record is strong, both discs filled with songs of “murder, mob-law and cruel cruel punishment.� That said, however, despite the all-star cast of musicians from the bursting alt-country scene, the sheer length of the record can make listening to it in its entirety somewhat of a feat. Don’t get me wrong though. There is a wealth of good stuff here. Kurt Wagner of Lambchop makes an appearance to sing Tom Waits’ “The Fall of Troy� as does David Yow of the Jesus Lizard ( ! ) to sing Roger Miller’s “One Dyin’ and A Buryin’.� The performances are solid throughout. Langford performs a rousing rendition of “Delilah� while Mark Eitzel of American Music Club offers one of the record’s finest moments with “God’s Eternal Love.� Even the tracks sung by lesser known artists are stellar as in the case of Pat Brennan’s “Death Where Is Thy Sting� and Gurf Morlix’s “Hanging Me Tonight.� Given the subject matter, the tone of The Executioner’s Last Songs is subdued. The record is certainly not for everyone, however, if you’re up to the challenge, the record provides a dense listening experience. It’s difficult to put into words…all the songs on the record can be considered country, and yet, that word has come to take on many meanings. For the most part, the songs are slow, sparse and emotional. As such, if you’ve murdered someone recently and you are cowering in a corner with blood on your hands and the guilt eating away at you, this would make excellent listening as you wait for the police to arrive.

By Ryan Wugalter
Oct 9, 2003

After a short stint with Canada’s favorite psychedelic country stars, The Sadies, the prolific ex-Mekon, Jon Langford is back with his Pine Valley Cosmonauts. The Executioner’s Last Songs: Volume II and III was designed as a protest project in order to bring attention to the injustice of capital punishment. Thematically the record is strong, both discs filled with songs of “murder, mob-law and cruel cruel punishment.� That said, however, despite the all-star cast of musicians from the bursting alt-country scene, the sheer length of the record can make listening to it in its entirety somewhat of a feat. Don’t get me wrong though. There is a wealth of good stuff here. Kurt Wagner of Lambchop makes an appearance to sing Tom Waits’ “The Fall of Troy� as does David Yow of the Jesus Lizard ( ! ) to sing Roger Miller’s “One Dyin’ and A Buryin’.� The performances are solid throughout. Langford performs a rousing rendition of “Delilah� while Mark Eitzel of American Music Club offers one of the record’s finest moments with “God’s Eternal Love.� Even the tracks sung by lesser known artists are stellar as in the case of Pat Brennan’s “Death Where Is Thy Sting� and Gurf Morlix’s “Hanging Me Tonight.� Given the subject matter, the tone of The Executioner’s Last Songs is subdued. The record is certainly not for everyone, however, if you’re up to the challenge, the record provides a dense listening experience. It’s difficult to put into words…all the songs on the record can be considered country, and yet, that word has come to take on many meanings. For the most part, the songs are slow, sparse and emotional. As such, if you’ve murdered someone recently and you are cowering in a corner with blood on your hands and the guilt eating away at you, this would make excellent listening as you wait for the police to arrive.

By Ryan Wugalter
Oct 9, 2003