Penny Jo Pullus
My Turn to Howl
Self Released

by William Michael Smith

Austin's Penny Jo Pullus has one of those throaty, expressive voices that seems carefully engineered to fit perfectly on jukeboxes. On her third solo album, My Turn to Howl, she couples that voice with a handful of her smartly crafted songs and some of Austin's most seasoned roots players. The result is an extremely user friendly Texas roots CD that has nothing to do with the current "Shiner Bock, Luckenbach, let's rock" fad.

Ain't it funny, I'm down again
Feelin' disgusted, mistrusting again
I'm tired of that little black cloud
I'm lookin' up and it's raining now
I know it's mornin', what might have been
Dreamin' perfection, I just can't win
I've gone and fallen for my good friend's man
I'm in trouble all over and over again

And it's my turn to howl
Like a kid just out of school
Like an alley cat at the moon
Oh, it's my turn to howl

Pullus is backed by a Who's Who of respected Austin musicians, none of whom have the slightest connection to the "Texas, tacos, more beer" musical scene that is becoming a source of our national embarrassment. That Pullus circulates in a crowd that includes guitarists Casper Rawls (Leroi Brothers), Scrappy Judd Newcomb (Beaver Nelson), Eric Hisaw, steel guitar legend Herb Stiner, keyboardists Earl Poole Ball, Chip Dolan, and Ian Maclagan, and fiddlers Warren Hood and Mary Hattersly (Greezy Wheels) gives more than a slight hint of her credentials in the Austin roots scene. Pullus is also supported by her cadre of Ginny's Little Longhorn singing sisters, Karen Poston, Susanna Vantassel, Libbi Bosworth, and Elizabeth McQueen.

Pullus's vocal attraction lies in her ability to alternate between hellcat-on-a-tear and girl-next-door. On the lazy Ron Flynt/Monte Warden tune, "Ever Be Mine," Craig Marshall's "Hold Me Close Again," or Jon Notarthomas and Marshall's sentimental "Hardly a Day Goes By," girl-next-door Pullus reminds us of Bonny Tyler. The title track and pieces like Jeff Hughes's "Same Old Magic" show Pullus in her I'm-letting-my-hair-down honky tonk mode as she growls out some deliciously sassy lines that will work in any bar on any Saturday night.

Pullus may be primarily viewed as singer, but she is no slouch as songwriter. Her songs are mostly about love, the problems of finding it, keeping it, or losing it. She has a keen, wonderfully jaded eye for the intricacies of finding the right man. Her portrait of a possible Mr. Right ("I saw him coming on the first day/I knew he was coming to pay his rent") on "What's a Girl To Do" is so hilarious ­ and so true.

I should've known he was too good to be true
Short hair and not one single tattoo
He had a job and a driver's license, even his own car
I should have known though, man, he was still a liar

What's a girl to do when she's feeling foolish
What's a girl to do, yeah, I'm so confused
I lie my way to love and it's pure disaster
No matter what I do, what you gonna do

I never dreamed of divine intervention
I never dreamed of love at first sight
And now I know God has a sense of humor
Oh, man, I'm not feelin' quite right

The most sophisticated musical statement on the album is Pullus's "Catch Me I'm Falling." Brad Fordham's interesting bass line and Maclagan's Wurlitzer piano give the track a dark richness, which Pullus only further accentuates with her bluesy vocal treatment. This isn't some Britney Spears' woe-is-me phoney teenager sentiment. No, this is how the big girls do it when they are feeling low. Pullus finds an irresistible sultry tone as she faces doubt, indecision, love, and the potential for pain.

It wasn't easy come, it won't be easy goin'
Days carry on, catch me, I'm falling
Measure what's at stake, this time she couldn't wait
Dug down deep inside, I swallowed all my pride
Feeling like this should be a crime, catch me I'm falling

My Turn to Howl is not a flashy record. It doesn't rely on grab-the-program-director gimmicks or I'm-just-like-Pat-Green faddish clichés. Instead, producer/engineer Ron Flynt manages to infuse the record with as much "Austin feel" as any record I've heard in a while. Those who go back far enough will hear echoes of such still-remembered, still-revered Austin ensembles as Greezy Wheels or Freda and the Firedogs in the twangy, country-ish roots rock on My Turn to Howl. Close your eyes, listen to "Hold Me Close Again" or the driving twang of "Romeo," and it can as easily be Austin 1974 as Austin 2002. Listen to "Don't Get Me Started" often enough and the Split Rail is still open on Lamar and Janis Joplin is still playing open mic night at Threadgill's. There isn't the slightest hint that Pullus and Flynt are chasing any current marketable fad but rather have tapped into that earthy magical spirit that has always informed the best of Austin's roots rockers. Forget the lame cliché of "London Homesick Blues." Pullus's rocking version of "Don't Get Me Started" would make a much more honest theme song for Austin City Limits.

 
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