Review: Demolition String Band - Different Kinds of Love

Label: Breaking Records

Released: November 20, 2007

With a name like Demolition String Band, there's bound to be some preconceptions. The mention of "string band" certainly creates an expectation of a 30s/40s pre-electric country and bluegrass revival. "Demolition," on the other hand, implies breaking down barriers or rejecting rules. In the end though, Demolition String Band isn't really what their name implies.

Their brand of alt-country really stems from country's electric era, from 50s rockabilly to the slicker sounds of the 60s and 70s. There's no question that they're a technically capable group and that has them poised to make an amazing record. The part that's missing most of the way through though is that certain sense of self that gives a band its identity. "Wisteria," for instance, is a great tune, but DSB fails to really project it. Boo Reiners' vocals tend to give the music a quirky boost next to the technically superior though often under-powered voice of Elena Skye, but it's not until the last few tracks that things really come alive. Skye really finds herself in the dark melancholy of "Thank You Claudia." Oddly enough, the band really gets into full swing on a garage rocker, "Undone in Sorrow," and then accelerates into the instrumental "Boonanza" (which seems to be in that race with a certain hot rod Lincoln). Different Kinds of Love finishes strong with the psychobilly rumble of "Drinkin' Whiskey," leaving one to wonder what happened over the first two-thirds of the album.

DSB really comes alive over the last four tracks and more than anything, that just makes me wish that same fire had been lit under the earlier tracks, because there are some really strong songs in there that didn't quite get the treatment that they deserve (and that DSB is clearly capable of giving them). The "string band" misnomer is no big deal, but, the last few songs aside, I could use a little more "demolition."

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 5/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 6/10
Overall: 6/10

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Video: Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles - "Stop and Think It Over"

Check out Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles' new video for "Stop and Think It Over". If you aren't familiar with their, here's a review their latest album, Diamonds in the Dark.

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New song from Frontier Folk Nebraska

Frontier Folk Nebraska has posted a new song entitled "Depression Queen" in their Myspace page. It might not be happy, but it touches the soul.

Review: Frontier Folk Nebraska - The Devil's Tree

Label: Hands on Deck

Released: 2007

Desperation and salvation often have a parallel existence as evidenced by the role of religion in in the worst of times. Perhaps it is the hope of a better life to come, that light at the end of the tunnel, that allows people to hold on in these dire times. More likely it seems, in this band's view, it is the resolve of faith more than any real optimism. Frontier Folk Nebraska mixes Dust Bowl desperation with Bible Belt religion for an album that chronicles the struggle of faith in trying times.

Recorded with traditional, almost exclusively acoustic, instruments, The Devil's Tree is a step back in time, away from the happy sheen of modern comfort and convenience to a time when hope for the rewards of heaven was sometimes all a person could cling to. Like poverty, the music is sparse. The guitar work is simple with some subtly moving slide parts. Low energy bass lines and understated drums are the background of the bleak musical landscape. Accordion and violin are the drone of its even less welcoming middle ground. While the singer lacks the range to have a truly good voice, there is just enough twang and tension to make it the perfect voice to walk through the desolation, on one hand pleading to be saved and on another resolved to continued suffering in this life. Under the covers, there is just the slightest hint of pop, so slight that it is likely that very shred of hope that still remains in the farmer standing on his parched land as a dust storm approaches. As they sing, "It's hard to be like my Savior," it's clear that even this last shred of hope or faith to cling to doesn't come easy.

The most obvious comparison to The Devil's Tree is likely Uncle Tupelo, but that shouldn't obscure the influence of the Violent Femmes, whose bizarre perhaps tongue-in-cheek religious imagery and deep roots in American music manges to conjure up similar visions of the snake-handling periphery of Christianity in this country's poorer parts. While Frontier Folk Nebraska avoids the strange goofiness of the Femmes, they certainly tap into that same history.

For an unsigned band, there is little to complain about. If forced though, it might be worth mentioning that the production is rather poor. Granted, this album shouldn't have pristine sound, but there are times when some of the lower parts clip a bit and that kind of rawness detracts from the effectiveness of the sound. It's a minor complaint though and one that I might even fail to mention on an album with more glaring weaknesses.

Despite having only heard stories of the Great Depression, Frontier Folk Nebraska has managed to create its soundtrack. More importantly, they do it in a way that can relate to the depression (and shred of hope) that exists today under a facade of happiness.

Rating: 9/10

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Review: Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles - Diamonds in the Dark

Label: Sugar Hill Records

Released: June 12, 2007

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles do more than just channel the past. True, Diamonds in the Dark is partially images of days gone by, but the package is fresh. Touching on every raw influence of rock music, the end result is an album that is both clean and warm, touching the old, but very much new.

The album centers on Sarah Borges voice which is rich and warm. She can use it across the genres the album touches and her passion is just as clear when she's subtle as when she's brash. She has similar qualities to Natalie Merchant, but Borges' individuality is so strong that the comparison only becomes vividly clear once (on "Modern Trick"). The band is more than just a backup for Borges' voice. The rhythms can be driving or sublime or anything in between, setting the tone as it changes along the way. The pedal steel plays an integral role throughout, sharing a lot of the understated movement of the vocals and bringing out a lot of the songs' color.

Diamonds in the Dark clearly digs deep into the core of rock n roll, coming up with rockabilly, blues, soul, bubblegum, country and punk. "The Day We Met" has the punk-edged rockabilly perfected by X (even more than the album's actual cover of X's "Come Back to Me"). Punk energy is even more prevalent on the garagey "Diablito" and "Stop and Think It Over" applies that same punk rock edge to 60s pop. Borges pulls off "False Eyelashes" with all the confidence of Dolly Parton's original and her own restless energy. The pedal steel is just superb on this as well as "Modern Trick." Even the comparatively average country ballads "Around 9" and "Belle of the Bar" could stand on their own. The album finishes up with another cover, this time Tom Waits' "Blind Love," whose sparse echoey slide and rimshots provide the perfect atmosphere for Borges range and control without constraining her.

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles have produced an album that burns slow and warm with their passion and love, not for the music of the past, but for the roots of the present. There's a difference between those two, because one is just a revival, but Sarah Borges and company show us that even the roots are still alive and growing today.

Rating: 9/10

Review: Ox - American Lo Fi

Label: Weewerk

Released: October 17, 2006

You know it's a fine album when a band pulls off a cover of a song like "Surrender" and it's not even the album's best track. Ox offers up this indie alt-country should-be classic that weaves its way from rock to country and back with a few detours along the way, all held together with low-key ambling rhythms and subtle ambience.

Most of American Lo Fi doesn't stray too far from center, making it a perfect fit for the rural emo of roots-influenced indie rock, but there are a few tracks that help it beat its peers by at least a nose. They turn their cover of Cheap Trick's classic entirely into their own rural take on the suburban theme without losing its essence, but that's not even the best it has to offer. With its old-time folk style, "1913" is as genuine as it would have been had it been written by a copper miner himself. "Marta's Song," with it's peculiar female lead vocal and vaudeville appeal turns oddly both dark and hopeful as a haunting rendition of "Merry Xmas (War is Over)" drops in as a background vocal. "Awkward Beauty" is a self-fulfilling prophesy for the album's closer, a vibrato-soaked, quirky bit of blues. The album's real gem though is "Sugar Cane." It's here that the albums hooks meet its soul in scratchy, beautiful and sublime vocal harmonies.

American Lo Fi is equal parts Neil Young, Gram Parsons and Death Cab for Cutie all adding up an album that's slightly better than its peers, in a genre where those peers set a pretty high standard. That standard isn't reached by any kind of superficial perfection, but by the very heart of the music itself and American Lo Fi has that heart cut deep into its grooves.

Rating: 7/10

Review: John P. Strohm/Dylan in the Movies - So Long City Skies

Label: American Laundromat Records

Released: July 23, 2007

One of American Laundromat's latest split 7 inches, So Long City Skies finds unjustly lesser-known alt rocker John P. Strohm (formerly of the equally unjustly lesser-known Blake Babies) channeling the Jayhawks. "The Long So Long" is a mild countrified indie rock song that's so subtle you might not catch it on the first listen, but its sublime soul picks away and works its way in with sparse perfection and sweet harmonies.

The flipside, "City Skies" is well-crafted emo/indie pop from Boston's Dylan in the Movies. It's a decent match for Strohm's contribution, but lacks the balance between clean and raw of the first side, erring on the side of being just a bit too nice and neat. Certainly for the right mood (maybe late at night and alone, but not lonely?), it's a nice fit, but it doesn't have the subtlety of "The Long So Long" which finds its way into life in general.

While this record won't have as much in store outside of its target audience, it does hold a good bit of appeal for lovers of both alt country and low-key indie pop. Vinyl lovers can pick up one of 500 hand-numbered copies. The less fortunate can still get it on iTunes.

Rating: 7/10