Search - Gurf Morlix :: Cut N Shoot

Nashville Slick

Lee Armstrong | Winterville, NC United States | 02/17/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you want more Nashville slick, you'll have to go elsewhere. Gurf Morlix's "Cut & Shoot" is down home country that sets your toe tapping, warms your heart a bit, and puts a smile on your face. From the opener "Yesterday She Didn't" he takes a fairly simple lyric with a fairly simple tune and it simply works quite well, "Yesterday she didn't, today she does, what I've been dreaming became what was, now I'm in heaven & it's all because yesterday she didn't but today she does!" My favorite track "Were You Lyin' Down?" takes a similar lyrical twist & sets your toe tapping with some excellent guitar picking, "Did you leave your lipstick on his coffee cup? You got me feeling like a lonely pup. Were you lying down when you stood me up?" "Ten Years of Love" is an excellent tune with a great breakup lyric. "The Whole Truth" is another great toe tapper with an almost country-polka beat, "I got half a mind to tell the whole truth." On "I'll Change," Gurf does his Hank Williams vocal with his voice cracking into the upper range on a clunky lyric that makes it seem more heartfelt & unpretentious, "I'll change to win back your love, I'll rearrange the stars above, whatever it takes to do what I'm dreaming of." "Where There Is Smoke" written with Jim Lauderdale is another delightful midtempo tune. "Your Sister" is a gumdrop of a ballad with another humorous lyric that reflects Gurf's dry sense of humor, "I'm gonna have to sleep with your sister; Since we broke up, I sure have missed her; I might even get a blister, but I'm gonna have to sleep with your sister." You remember the old saying, "Man's reach must exceed his grasp or what is a heaven for?" Well, Gurf, he don't reach all that far, but his grasp well exceeds his talent and results in this delightful set. None of these tunes will sound startlingly new. However, on a generation of Nashville slick in country music, it's nice to go back to country roots. Enjoy!"

Gurf's Hillbilly disc, and his best

Bt | Parts unknown | 12/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Good ol' Gurf; I knew it was just a matter of time before he gave us a taste of some definitive roots music. While his previous two efforts were roots rock based, he's replaced the electric guitar with a steel guitar as the forefront of the sound on this beauty. His songwriting suits him much better in this territory, and this is by far his strongest disc yet. I read one review saying that Gurf hadn't recorded his masterpiece yet with his previous disc "Fishin' in the Muddy", but he may have just done it with "Cut' N Shoot". He gets bad press sometimes, but who gives a damn. It seems all the best roots rockers do, and that's just 'cause they do it their way, not everybody else's. That's why I love this stuff, it's authentic, true blue punch-in-the-guts music."

Take it for what it is.

Mad Mau | Oklahoma City | 01/19/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love the way Gurf Morlix carves out his own turf, disregarding critics and possibly even admirers. You get a sense listening to him here, that he writes and plays for his own pleasure and would put forth just as good an effort whether he were in Carnegie Hall or his own Garage.



Take this album for what it is and you'll enjoy it immensely. What is it? Gurf playing and singing all by his lonesome, save for a little help from a drummer on a few tracks. Some cuts remind me of Buck Owens or Dave Dudley and others veer into real toe tappin' rockabilly.



Gurf is as polished as ever here on every instrument he attempts. And his vocals...... well, he's no Merle Haggard, but he applies his texas twang to uncomplicated, yet creative lyrics in such a way, that you can't help but like it.



Album of the Year? Far from it. But if you're not careful you might just find you're singing along with ole Gurf, as you head down the highway."