American Central Dust just may be Son Volt’s most cynical album yet. That is, it’s not bitterly cynical like Okemah and the Melody of Riot. Dust isn’t angry, it’s frustrated. It’s frustrated with the current climate, the system, the American Dream ”“ the World, really. It’s a frustration that’s been festering through tough times and even tougher decisions. It’s hard to say that Son Volt’s ever been an uplifting band. Sure, a song here or there can be seen as positive in some way, but it’s always been a mournful optimism if anything. On Dust, this fact has never been more obvious. The song titles alone are a dead giveaway: ‘Cocaine and Ashes,’ ‘Dust of Daylight,’ ‘No Turning Back,’ ‘Exiles,’ you get the idea.“There is no right way, only the way that keeps your mind free/ Every moment to count in the living judgment day” sings Farrar on the accordion-driven opener ‘Dynamite.’ Tired isn’t the right word, but Farrar does sound depleted after exhaling such a line, almost as if stating the truth makes reality worse. For the listener, however, a line (or a song) like this is quite cathartic. It may sound a bit messianic, but Farrar might be experiencing pain so we don’t have to. Ridiculous, sure, but that doesn’t make it any less true.It makes sense that the most openly pessimistic song is also Dust’s heaviest. ‘When the Wheels Don’t Move’ is the only electric guitar-driven song of the lot, and with good reason. The song discusses not only the decline of industry in America and the unintended consequences, but also the effect of its former strength, and after posing a series of rhetorical questions, Farrar states the following: “Bigger chariots didn’t save Rome/ Easy money didn’t stay at home/ They said the iron horse would always roam/ Who will tell the children when the wheels don’t move?”.Musically, the band’s in full throwback-mode. The best example lies in ‘No Turning Back,’ a track that couldn’t be more old-school if Beethoven had produced it. I mean, the drums are mixed in only the right channel! Who does that anymore? Then there’s the accent-then-lead-then-accent of a swirling electric guitar in the left channel. And let’s not forget the Springsteen-channeling of Jay Farrar. It’s as throwback as throwback gets. Likewise, ‘Sultana’ is a piano ballad wherein the piano is used for percussion more melody, Ã la Spoon’s ‘The Ghost of You Lingers.’ If there’s such a thing as sad rockabilly, this is it.Bill Maher wondered on his show last week if America was truly “over the hill.” Maher has openly stated numerous times that America has many problems with which it needs to deal. That said, Maher hopes that the U.S. isn’t past its prime because he loves his country. Likewise, Farrar and company are calling out the problems of this country but not in a patronizing manner. No, they want this country at its zenith. But as he sees it, our problems can’t be ignored in order for that to happen. As Farrar eloquently frames America’s current situation on ‘Roll On,’ “Left to chance or left undone, miles to go chasing the sun/ The stones we throw always find us on the way down.” 87%Son Volt on Myspace