The Black Crowes: A Pound of Feathers

“I ain’t no sidestepper, back-scratcher, rat catcher
I said flow, river flow
Said I’m a chain-breaker, rainmaker, soul-shaker
I know what I know.”
–”Doomsday Doggerel”

The Black Crowes’ tenth studio album A Pound of Feathers sounds like a mean piece of rock-n-roll. No soft-hearted nostalgia exists in these grooves. Jay Joyce recorded the new songs at Neon Cross Studio in Nashville. Joyce also produced the Crowes’ previous album, Happiness Bastards. 

Chris and Rich Robinson worked fast, finishing the hard-rocking sessions in ten days. Rich played bass and all the guitars on A Pound of Feathers. Chris recently said: “Bringing the high and inspiration from Happiness Bastards into this album felt like a natural progression. We experimented more, wrote on instinct, and followed how we were feeling in the moment. Rich brought a spontaneity to the record I can’t describe – it’s the best shit he’s ever done.”

“Profane Prophecy” ignites A Pound of Feathers with the Crowes’ signature Saturday night music bonfire. A Beggar’s Banquet sonic quality lurks inside the redemptive “Pharmacy Chronicles”. A fiddle-laced “High And Lonesome” ranks as one of the most soulful and stripped-down tracks fueled by Rich’s slow burning six-string mastery. To their credit, the Black Crowes refuse to replicate previous hits and hats off to a rock-n-roll poet of the highest order, Chris Robinson.

The two-minute acoustic “Queen of the B-Sides” captures the Robinson Brothers’ stellar vocal harmonies. A dark gem, “Blood Red Regrets”, contains sharp-edged lyrics, a sad but true chorus and time-expanding musical changes. Rich’s serpentine riff in “Eros Blues” bites the listener as Chris sings, “If I find my way to morning/Feel the sweet sunlight/You won’t hear me moaning/About my downward plight.” 

“Doomsday Doggerel” ends Feathers with Rich’s apocalyptic-laden guitar-mojo channeling Link Wray at his meanest. Chris delivers a fearless final sermon: “Eyes black as wine/A front row seat to the end of times…”

A Pound of Feathers resonates like a wicked soundtrack to this sinister year of 2026.