We highlight an April album that belongs in heavy rotation.
Posted by: Seth Sommerfeld on May 01, 2012 at 11:00AM2 Comments
There’s no denying this duo’s debut effort.
We all have our musical blind spots. Even the most ardent music lovers struggle to appreciate certain styles outside their wheelhouse. But every now and then, a band or artist turns out an album that’s so well executed, there’s no denying its merits, even if it’s not a genre one would normally dig. This is exactly how I’d categorize the debut EP by Seattle alt-folk duo Impossible Bird. It was April’s pleasant surprise. The five-song album is a mix of fiddle and falsetto, backed by incredible talent: Canadian Tyler Carson mans the fiddle and Stroh violin—a violin that uses a metal horn instead of a wooden body to resonate sound—and brings each song to life with energetic lead lines that rip away any notions of the folk blahs. Vocalist-guitarist Nick Drummond, formerly of local acoustic rock band the Senate, churns out propulsive guitar lines that keep the acoustic two-piece from sounding small. The instrumental arrangements are reminiscent of Dave Matthews Band, but Drummond’s clear vocals give Impossible Bird a sound that’s refreshing and entirely its own.
Opening track “Here I Am” showcases the duo at its most playful and anthemic; it’s not hard to imagine a summer festival crowd clapping along. (Perhaps at the Northwest Folklife Festival? Impossible Bird will be playing there on May 28.) The EP isn’t a one-trick pony, though; “Overture” is darker, like its set in an old Southern Gothic mansion with creaking floorboards and door hinges, thanks to Carson’s fiddle work and the clever use of clanking chains as percussion.
Lyrics aren’t Impossible Bird’s forte, but the track about a marriage proposal—“Bottle of Wine”—is genuinely sweet with lines like, “A ring’s like a watch that shows no time.” While Drummond has a tendency to excessively repeat his refrains (most songs have about a minute and a half worth of lyrics stretched into four-and-a-half-minute songs), it’s forgivable since the core of Impossible Bird is melodic instrumentation, not poetry.
Acoustic duos simply aren’t supposed to have this big a sound. It’s really only a matter of time before Impossible Bird has an equally large audience.
Impossible Bird May 28 at 4, Northwest Folklife Festival, Fisher Green Stage.
We highlight another new local album that belongs in heavy rotation.
Posted by: Seth Sommerfeld on Mar 30, 2012 at 02:05PM0 Comments
Crepuscular rock reigns on Eighteen Individual Eyes’ Unnovae Nights.
As March rolled in and slowly began granting Seattle more hours of sunshine, Eighteen Individual Eyes made sure the city still had a tantalizing taste of darkness. The Seattle quartet’s new album Unnovae Nights sounds like Wild Flag-meets-atmospheric art rock with a dash of nightmarish imagery.
Something sinister seems to be lurking around every corner of Unnovae Nights, but front woman Irene Barber’s alluringly smooth vocals help soothe the potential in a way that harkens to St. Vincent. While the album is packed with song titles like “Octogirl” and lines like “Love for fate. The place and time of death addressed and kept away,” the album avoids being dark in a cheesy way. This isn’t horror punk hokeyness. The interaction between Barber and guitarist Jamie Aaron gives the album a real identity. The coy interplay between their guitar lines on songs like “Tree Farm in the Darkness” builds each song’s tension, and Aaron also provides spot-on background harmonies.
Famed Seattleite producer Matt Bayles has his fingerprints all over Unnovae Nights. He knows how to make a rhythm section (drummer Andy King and bassist Samantha Wood) pop without burying the guitars in the mix (see: Mastadon, Minus the Bear, et al.). Some of the ripping lead guitar tones Eighteen Individual Eyes employ are also instantly familiar for fans of Bayles’s production. While tracks often show glances of math rock influence, they’re never tied down in technicality. These songs have solid cores that would still sound full even stripped down to Barber’s vocals and a single acoustic guitar.
Unnovae Nights is, appropriately, one of those albums that one can hardly imagine listening to in the day. Eighteen Individual Eyes are here to satisfy our nocturnal listening needs. Maybe those extra hours of daylight weren’t so great after all.
In our new monthly feature, we highlight a local album that belongs in heavy rotation.
Posted by: Seth Sommerfeld on Mar 02, 2012 at 02:00PM0 Comments
Deep Sea Diver debuts with History Speaks.
March is a big month for Seattleite Jessica Dobson. She’s the new guitarist for the Shins and hype abounds for the band’s first release since 2007, Port of Morrow, which drops at the end of the month. But Port of Morrow is going to have a hard time measuring up to History Speaks, the first LP by Dobson’s band Deep Sea Diver, just released last Friday.
This isn’t the type of indie rock that’s littered with frivolous guitar bends or buried in reverb. Everything is tight, purposeful—a pop-rock Hemingway story. There’s a precision to the production that ties together an otherwise diverse sound. “Ships” kicks off the album with a coy burst of nautical-themed rock, touching on love lost with metaphors of ships adrift at sea. The playful “You Go Running” calls to mind calypso grooves and ‘80s Latin pop (complete with maracas). “Tracks of the Green Line” is the type of piano ballad some down-on-her-luck crooner would play in a near-empty lounge in a lonely desert town.
Though Dobson is anything but down on her luck right now, her ethereal vocals lend a sad, whiskey-soaked sadness to the ballads. While she stars both on guitar and piano, the rhythm section of Peter Mansen (drums) and John Raines (bass) isn’t shabby either, providing punch on the up-tempo tracks.
While the world waits for that other Dobson album, we can’t wait to see what’s next for the quickly ascending Deep Sea Diver. Until then we’ll just have to keep History Speaks on repeat.
Portland’s folk phenom shows off her new children’s album at the Vera Project.
Posted by: Laura Dannen on Nov 30, 2011 at 11:30AM0 Comments
Considering that Portland folk star Laura Veirs sang about mermaids and moonbeams before she gave birth, a children’s album seems an obvious postpartum project. She takes froggy a-courtin’ on Tumble Bee, a spirited new collection of folk covers borrowed from Woody Guthrie and Peggy Seeger, African American lullabies and Civil War–era fiddle tunes. Don’t try to resist “Prairie Lullaby” when she plays an all-ages show at the Vera Project on December 3; the gentle, swaying song (with a bit of yodeling) could rock any Scrooge to sleep.
Laura Veirs and the Tumble Bees play an all-ages show at the Vera Project, Dec 3 at 3:30 (doors open at 3). Tickets are $10, $5 for children 12 and under. Babes in arms free.
Before joining Seattle Metropolitan, Laura Dannen covered all things A&E as deputy editor of Time Out Singapore. She’s an award-winning reporter and editor whose team of entertainment junkies delivers daily doses of news, reviews, and interviews.
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