By Michelle Broder Van Dyke
Nashville singer-songwriter Todd Snider has been making folk-rock croons since 1994, but his last three albums have shown an evolving sound that lends itself more towards protest cries than an apathetic hipster generation is used to hearing.
His most recent eight-track EP, Peace Queer (Mega Force, 2008), springs an attack on Dubya (it was released on Oct. 14 before we knew who his predecessor would be), war, and the state of the nation with clever, literate lyrics that Snider says are meant for him (“I share them with you because they rhyme / I did not do this to change your mind about anything / I did this to ease my own mind about everything”). That statement seems as true as this non-commercial album – in title, cover, distribution strategy, spoken word pieces, and length – and reinforces Snider’s sincerity.