The Great Outdoors – Spring EP

It’s always nice when bands do something to set themselves out from the mass of music being made today. A while back, Jonathan Coulton announced he would post one new song a week to his blog, and garnered him significant attention. More recently, Vancouver’s The Great Outdoors have unveiled their seasonal EPs of 2008. The 4 EPs, aptly named Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter are a follow up to their 2007 release, Food, Booze, and Entertainment.

While their makeup switches depending on availability of musicians, Adam Nation shoulders most of the song writing and vocals. The traditional Americana sound (or Canadana, as it were) of melodic vocal lines and strummed acoustic guitars let the songs work for themselves; nothing seems forced or out of place. While an occasional banjo takes songs into the alt-country genre, they never sound misplaced or too busy.

While Summer has yet to be released, you can grab Spring on their website. And here, for your aural pleasure is “So Long Old Man,” my favorite track off Spring. Oh, and if you get a chance, go download “Lynn Shalla” from Food, Booze, and Entertainment.

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The Great Outdoors – So Long Old Man