Indie Shuffle » drive-by truckers

The Avett Brothers – Live and Die

Lauren Sloss — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:59:27 +0000

Sounds like: Justin Townes Earle, Alabama Shakes, The Broken Spoke, Drive-By Truckers

Song: The Avett Brothers - Live and Die [download here]

What's so good?

Oh Avett Brothers, where have you been? Yeah yeah, I know, you were producing an album with Rick Rubin, and touring, and banjo playing, but we’ve missed you! I And Love And You came out two whole years ago, and while that may not be so long when you think about the craft and construction of an album, it sure feels like forever when you’re craving some harmonizing, finger-picking, banjo-laced tunes.

Well, I’m happy to say The Avett Brothers are back — their (if you’re me) long-anticipated album, The Carpenter, is coming out September 11. Thankfully, they’ve released a single, “You And I,” a lovely sentimental reminder of what the band does well — take simple themes, familiar sounds, and blend them into something distinctive.

Rubin’s influence is pretty evident — the track is decidedly more slick, more pop, and more produced than previous efforts (especially Emotionalism, though I And Love And You still did have something of a homemade feel to it). Still, the sound remains clearly Avett-created: there’s that finger picking, the lush swell of a fiddle, and warm, rich vocal harmonies that wrap around you listen.

More than anything, it’s a good reminder that there’s nothing wrong with a good love song. Or, coming from the Avetts, a good ol’ fashioned love song.

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1. Original post: The Avett Brothers – Live and Die

2. Posted in: folk, folk-rock, americana, alabama shakes, Justin Townes Earle

3. Find more music on Indie Shuffle's Indie Music Blog.

The Menzingers – On The Impossible Past

Eric Shapiro — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:00:57 +0000

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Sounds like: Gaslight Anthem, Cloud Nothings, Against Me!

Song: Menzingers - Ava House [download here]

What's so good?

With 1990s nostalgia in full swing, contemporary rock bands have taken to mining the motifs of that decade’s music to an unprecedented degree. Some artists, such as Cloud Nothings (check out their latest release, Attack on Memory), channel the abrasive grunge rock sound associated with the early 1990s.

Others, like The Menzingers, draw their inspiration from the pop punk bands that arose in the wake of the alternative movement’s self-immolation. With the possible exception of Green Day, posterity has not been kind to such bands. Still, one would be remiss to pass them over because they bare superficial similarities to bands that hipsters justifiably love to hate.

The Menzingers possess an acute songwriting sensibility that far transcends the post-pubescent tirades that their sound might call to mind. Lyrically, they bring to mind bands like The Hold Steady and Drive-By Truckers. With Greg Barnett’s emotional (in the best possible sense of the word) vocal delivery and the band’s juicy barrage of power pop hooks, The Menzingers hit harder and resonate more deeply than most contemporary punk rock outfits.

The Menzingers’ latest LP, On The Impossible Past, is arguably their most mature and memorable effort to date. Standout track “Obituary” contains all of the elements that make the band so successful. First and foremost, it’s catchy as hell. The hooks will beg for your attention long after you’ve memorized evocative lines like “I cursed my lonely memory with picture perfect imagery/Maybe I’m not dying I’m just living in decaying cities.” The track manages to be anthemic and personal all at once, splicing universal attestations of self-doubt (“I will fuck this up/I fucking know it”) with observations that are clearly the product of a distinctly poetic mind.

It is not surprising that The Menzingers have thus far failed to make a splash in the blogosphere to the same degree as comparable bands such as Titus Andronicus and Fucked Up. For all their lyrical sophistication, they lack the ironic, overtly intellectual ingredients that render punk rock palatable to the indie masses. They are unashamedly devoted to expressing the kind of angst that the cynical marketing of endless post-grunge and whiny pop punk bands drove out of fashion in the 1990s.

Still, it would be a shame for anyone to miss out on an album like On The Impossible Past and songs like “Obituary” because they associate it with an outmoded aesthetic. The Menzingers’ brand of punk pop is not a revelation, but rarely is it executed with this much passion and attention to detail.

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1. Original post: The Menzingers – On The Impossible Past

2. Posted in: punk, punk rock, cloud nothings, drive-by truckers, punk pop

3. Find more music on Indie Shuffle's Indie Music Blog.

Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls

Lauren Sloss — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:03:44 +0000

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Sounds like: Heartless Bastards, Drive-By Truckers, Justin Townes Earle

Song: Alabama Shakes - I Found You [download here]

What's so good?

The Alabama Shakes have been on people’s minds a lot lately. Billed as a ‘band to watch’ by all a variety of music publications, critics and the like, they were a hot ticket at South By, have found the majority of their shows sold out as they tour the US and Europe, and are even opening for a smattering of Jack White shows in New York. And now, with the release of their debut full-length album Boys & Girls, the question remains: are they worth the hype?

Oh, yes. I don’t think I can emphasize enough just how hype-worthy this hard-rocking, soul-dripping band from ‘bama is. They make the kind of music that grips you — with it’s raw power, it’s undeniable skill, and the essence of passion and truth it encapsulates. All of this would be good news on its own, but what really clinches it for me is how damn good the music sounds. This is an album you’ll want to play over and over — it’s joyful, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s intoxicating.

This is in large part thanks frontwoman Brittany Howard, who can belt with the best of them, but possesses a power and charisma that is hard to come by. This is immediately evident when you see the Shakes live (which, please, do so as soon as you can) — she owns the room, the crowd, the stage, so effectively it seems like a second nature. Her voice does more than compels you to listen — it commands you. Although, you’ll find you won’t need much convincing.

Howard isn’t alone when it comes to musical excellence. Heath Fogg on guitar, Zac Cockrell on bass, and Steve Johnson on drums, form a tight, well-orchestrated backbone, unafraid to go big and loud and to hold back, allowing songs to range from masterful epics (“Hold On,” “Be Mine”) to coy invitations to listen a little more closely (“Going to the Party” … until it rockets into an anthem, anyway).

What’s truly incredible about Boys & Girls is how it manages to effectively portray, if not capture, the incredible energy of the Shakes’ live performance. You hear this band’s power in their music, and it is a weighty power indeed. Worth the hype? I’d say so. This is not a band to be trifled with.

You can stream Boys & Girls over on NPR.

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1. Original post: Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls

2. Posted in: female vocalist, folk-rock, blues rock, alabama shakes, Justin Townes Earle

3. Find more music on Indie Shuffle's Indie Music Blog.

Justin Townes Earle – Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now

Lauren Sloss — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:32:59 +0000

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Sounds like: Drive By Truckers, Alabama Shakes

Song: Justin Townes Earle - Maria [download here]

What's so good?

When trying to explain to my indie music-loving friends why I love country music, I refer to country legends of old. Johnny Cash. Merle Haggard. Steve Earle. The rawness of their emotion, the brutal honesty of their lyrics, the distinctly American sound to their twang.

I think now, I’ll just direct them straight to a contemporary troubadour, Justin Townes Earle. Yes, that last name should look familiar — JTE has one famous daddy, and whether that informs his musical style or inspires him to rebel, I don’t know. I don’t really care. Because his latest effort, Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now, is an album so rife with pain, with heartbreak, with that brutal honesty that makes good country music so effective, that I’d rather just sit back and listen rather than question the source of his hurt.

A follow up to 2010′s Harlem River Blues, Nothing’s Gonna Change lacks the clap-happy singles that made his last release such a pleasure, and such fun, to listen to. Now, Earles’ vocals are scratchy and raw; his vocal chords sound shredded by too many cigarettes, dulled by crying, and marinated with whiskey. The baldness of his singing is offset by lush arrangements — here, a swell of horns, there, a wave of string instruments. This is country music for the grit downtown New York, a midnight cowboy without the sex.

“Am I That Lonely Tonight” (mentioning some hard feelings towards his father, among others) and “Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now” are upfront about their sadness in their titles, but while effective, the tracks don’t inspire desperation. And the album isn’t completely filled with sadness — “Baby’s Got A Bad Idea” rings with rockabilly guitar and pounding piano chords. “Maria” makes use of those marvelous horns and showcase Earles’ excellent guitar skills, while “Lower East Side” plays like a slinky, smoke-filled lounge act. But there is no escaping the baldness of his emotion in “Won’t Be The Last Time,” as his voice noticeably quavers over the vibration of a haunting cello.

This may not be a feel-good collection but tracks, but it is, unquestionably, an album that compels. Will I listen to it as regularly as Harlem River Blues? Probably not. But I will keep coming back to it, and will, I’m certain, hear something new in it each time.

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1. Original post: Justin Townes Earle – Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now

2. Posted in: folk-rock, americana, alt-country, Justin Townes Earle, drive-by truckers

3. Find more music on Indie Shuffle's Indie Music Blog.

Heartless Bastards – Arrow

Lauren Sloss — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:09:46 +0000

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Sounds like: My Morning Jacket, The Black Keys, Drive By Truckers

Song: Heartless Bastards - Parted Ways [download here]

What's so good?

I’m starting to think that there’s something in the water in Ohio. What is it about bands from this seemingly understated state that allows them to plumb the depths of soulful, blues-rock feeling? The Heartless Bastards, with their fourth release Arrow, lend serious points to this supposition.

Erika Wennerstrom, she of the gnarled, husky vocals, provides the Bastards with their signature sound, and showcases her range on tracks like “Parted Ways,” in which she warbles “I need a little bit of whiskey and a little bit of time to ease my troubled mind.” This isn’t musical rocket science, but that’s the point. “Got to Have Rock and Roll” states the band’s case clearly in the title — they are a part of the discourse, bearers of the torch of blues rock.

By nature, this type of music must be referential to the sounds and constructs of previous bands — the aforementioned “Parted Ways” has moments that evoke The Byrds’ “My Back Pages;” “Down in the Canyon” has psyched out guitar solos that speak of Pink Floyd one moment, and My Morning Jacket the next. There are hints of Woodie Gutherie, and even of their fellow Ohio-ans, The Black Keys.

But the emotional directness, the richly layered texture of vocals and guitar and back beat, form a sound that is undoubtedly, indistinguishably Bastards.

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1. Original post: Heartless Bastards – Arrow

2. Posted in: indie rock, folk-rock, blues rock, americana, the black keys

3. Find more music on Indie Shuffle's Indie Music Blog.

Blitzen Trapper – Love The Way You Walk Away

Lauren Sloss — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:13:48 +0000

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Sounds like: Iron and Wine, Wilco, Drive-By Truckers

Song: Blitzen Trapper - Love The Way You Walk Away [download here]

What's so good?

If Blitzen Trapper keeps dropping tracks off their upcoming release American Goldwing, I may not be able to contain my excitement for its full release. The latest single, “Love The Way You Walk Away,” veers towards the country side of the folk music spectrum, in the old school campfire ballad style. You’ll hear no complaints from me. This sort of heartbreak song — heartbreak with a swagger, in a way — is one of the intricacies of country music that one me over to the genre. In classic Blitzen Trapper style — layers of harmony, Eric Early’s meaty vocals — it’s undeniably excellent.

You can download the track for free over on Pretty Much Amazing.

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1. Original post: Blitzen Trapper – Love The Way You Walk Away

2. Posted in: folk, americana, alt-country, wilco, iron and wine

3. Find more music on Indie Shuffle's Indie Music Blog.

The Broken Spoke – Before There Were Easy Riders

Lauren Sloss — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:00:24 +0000

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Sounds like: Drive-By Truckers, The Avett Brothers, Justin Townes Earl

Song: The Broken Spoke - Vamps in the Valley [download here]

What's so good?

The first time I heard Before There Were Easy Riders, the debut album from the indie-country outfit The Broken Spoke, reactions were, to say the least, mixed. “UGH,” explained one listener. “It was all going fine until that voice! The TWANG!”

We all laughed, but I was sad . Because I think it’s a shame that people let a singing approach deter them from enjoyable, well-executed, Americana folk-filled music. What’s so wrong with twang? It’s one of the more distinctly American musical traits out there, and when done well, adds a distinct quality to songs.

My rant aside, I find that The Broken Spoke provide a very nice example of twang done well. Even their nostalgic album title harkens back to a distinctly Western view of thinking; paired with slide guitars and steel drum beats it finds a comfortable home among predecessors ranging from Johnny Cash to The Avett Brothers. This is fitting — the Colorado-based band seem to have taken stock of their high-altitude surroundings and decided that this indeed remains the frontier.

Furthermore, leader singer Thomas Skora belts out his lyrics with such passion that the raging, cracking quality of his voice does nothing but add to the overall effect of the music’s spirit. Some songs are stronger than others — this is a band that’s certainly still coming into their own, and a few of the tracks sound a bit amateurish. However, the stronger tracks showcase some serious promise. The album’s opener, “Vamps in the Valley” showcases Skora’s killer vocals along with layers of banjo and harmonica.

This is a band to watch, to be certain.

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1. Original post: The Broken Spoke – Before There Were Easy Riders

2. Posted in: folk, americana, alt-country, drive-by truckers, the broken spoke

3. Find more music on Indie Shuffle's Indie Music Blog.