We fell in love with Tulsa back in 2007 and have been wondering what happened to them recently. Carter Tanton just released a new song called “Murderous Joy” that will be on his November 15th release, Freeclouds, via Western Vinyl.
If you’re familiar with Tulsa, you may hear a lighter vibe in this track than in previous efforts, but it’s a nice change. Tanton’s warm vocals are still in tact with a sound that blends Great Lake Swimmers and My Morning Jacket.
Warning – This track may become a slight addiction.
I can’t remember whether I read S.E. Hinton’s book first or saw Francis Coppola’s adaptation of The Outsiders in the theater. While many people would put down The Catcher & The Rye as the formative book of their adolescence, for me it was always The Outsiders. It wasn’t as if I could identify with Ponyboy or the other characters much. I grew up in a middle-class town with both my parents. Maybe it was Pony’s realization that, despite many differences, the Socs were also far from perfect. And it was hard not to respect Darry and his tough love, born from the recognition and appreciation that Pony was different and special. He wanted a better life for him; one that he couldn’t have.
When I heard that the Roadside Graves were doing a concept album based on a book that meant a great deal to me growing up, well, let’s just say I was excited. I don’t think I could have picked a better band to take on such a task. They didn’t set out to retell this familiar story – that would come off as cheap and unambitious. Instead, their perspective is more subtle and dives deep in character exploration. As Gleason said, ” We tried to emphasize the sensitive, frightened sides of the characters, instead of showcasing their thick skin and greaser toughness.”
The album starts with “Outside,” which speaks to the mentality of the greasers. The songs dredge up the “us against the world” mentality that so many of the characters felt throughout the book. “Double Feature” is inspired by the time when Ponyboy meets Cherry – an encounter which eventually leads to the death of Bob Sheldon, and act of violence that turns the book on end. The chorus of “I don’t want to fight but I will,” alludes to the confusion that both sides felt upon the almost compulsory need to fight.The staggering “Teenagers Are Tired” is an acoustic ballad that makes you feel every bit of fear and ounce of exhaustion that Ponyboy and Johnny must have felt while hiding out in the next town over. The heartbreaking “Love Me More” speaks to so many of the characters who had issues with or were abandoned by their parents.
The album stands on its own, even for those unfamiliar with The Outsiders. But if you’re a fan, it’s going to hit home. The talent and ability exhibited by Roadside Graves in breathing new life into something sacred to me is something special. While I wind up seeing the movie once a year on cable, I haven’t read the book in 20 years. After spending quality time with We Can Take Care Of Ourselves and digging into every last lyric, I found it necessary to download The Outsiders to my Kindle and explore it again with a new perspective.
Australia’s The Middle East were introduced to me via email along with mention of them touring with Mumford & Sons and playing fests like Bonaroo and Coachella. I immediately assumed they were a hyper-energetic folk act with a similar sound that that Mumford & Sons pull off so well. What I was greeted with, however, is an album full of ambiance and beauty.
I put I Want That You Are Always Happy on at work one day expecting to hear banjos and fiddles at full tilt. After 10 minutes or so, about midway through the album’s third song entitled “As I Go To See Janey,” I thought I must have played the wrong album. “As I Go To See Janey” is gorgeously haunting and drew me in to the point that I put down what I was doing and fully concentrated on the album.
Next up was “Jesus Came To My Birthday.” It’s a decidedly more up-tempo song that explores the relationship with Jesus and it’s a lo-fi beauty. Then came the haunting “Land of The Bloody Unknown” blending sounds of Irish folk music, Jeff Buckley-esque vocals and a banjo lick reminiscent of Mumford & Sons that twists and turns throughout the tune.
11 minutes and 30 seconds. That’s the length of those 3 songs and that’s the time it took to make me a very big admirer of The Middle East. This is a stunning achievement for a band putting out their first LP. It’s full of unique folk-rock ideas and each song sounds more fresh and different from the one before. In addition to the aforementioned artists, I’m reminded of a whole host of acts throughout – Grandaddy, My Morning Jacket, Eels, The Low Anthem, etc. I love exploring music from bands that are tough to categorize. I Want That you Are Always Happy is an album that requires exploration. By the time you reach “Hunger Song” and “Deep Water,” you may feel like you’ve discovered treasure.
Drive-By Truckers are releasing a Greatest Hits album, Greatest Hits – 1998-2009: Ugly Buildings, Whores and Politicians. If you read HearYa, chances are you’re a fan of Drive-By Truckers. DBT is the band that formed the friendship between Oz and myself and subsequently this blog. Now we’re BFF’s and DBT has their first greatest hits album coming out on August 2nd with the following tracks:
01 The Living Bubba
02 Bulldozers and Dirt
03 Ronnie and Neil
04 Zip City
05 Let There Be Rock
06 Marry Me
07 Sink Hole
08 Carl Perkins’ Cadillac
09 Outfit
10 The Righteous Path
11 Gravity’s Gone (Remix)
12 Never Gonna Change
13 3 Dimes Down
14 Lookout Mountain
15 Uncle Frank (Alternate Version)
16 A World of Hurt
When a great band releases a Greatest Hits album, especially when they’ve had zero commercial “hits” to speak of, they are bound to spark debate. DBT fans all have an individual list of favorite songs formed by their preference between three great songwriters, Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell, and their taste between big guitar, Southern Rock sounds and back porch ballads.
Our conversation began with the fact that “Women Without Whiskey” was left off the list. That is and will always be my favorite DBT song and I know it’s one of Oz’s top 3 picks. In addition to “Women Without Whiskey,” here are five more picks from each of us that should have been included – even if at the expense of others in the compilation.
Feel free to chime in with your omissions.
Woody
Decoration Day
18 Wheels of Love
Where The Devil Don’t Stay
Daddy Needs A Drink
Road Cases
Oz
Puttin’ People On The Moon
Dead Drunk and Naked
Heathens
Goddamn Lonely Love
A Ghost To Most
Drive-By Truckers – Women Without Whiskey (Live at The 40 Watt in Athens, GA)
Philly’s The War On Drugs are set to release Slave Ambient on August 16th and I can’t wait. Never ones to be stingy with giving away music, The War On Drugs just released a second single called “Come To The City” in follow up to the recent mp3 release of “Baby Missles.” Adam Granduciel puts [...]
Cymbals Eat Guitars recently released the lead track from their much anticipated sophomore album Lenses Alien. The album will be released on September 14th via Barsuk Records. “Rifle Eyesight (Proper Name)” is an epic 8:31 journey that would make Stephen Malkmus proud. Lead Singer/Guitarist, Joseph D’Agostino also shares the lyrics in one long paragraph that [...]
San Francisco band The Stone Foxes are giving away a couple new bluesy tracks from their upcoming 7″ vinyl release, Psycho b/w Serious People. “Psycho” is scratching my filthy blues itch right now. Grab it below and visit their site for the second download of “Serious People.” I caught these guys once in San Francisco [...]
I feel really bad for snubbing Centr0-matic in our best albums of 2011 so far post. Candidate Waltz really is one of my favorite albums of the year. The band recently released a new video for one of my favorite tracks on the album, “Iso-Residue” as well as a 24-song sampler. Here’s what Will Johnson [...]
The Lighthouse and The Whaler might be the best thing to come out of Cleveland since Major League. SafariMan, our resident Cleveland expert, had a great comment right after we first received the album: “These guys just went Blind Pilot on me.” In their initial email to us, they said they were often compared to [...]
I regret not becoming a Gillian Welch fan before this Independence Day weekend. I purchased Time (The Revelator) years ago and never made it through a complete spin. If digital albums could collect dust, that thing would be covered in cobwebs. At the coincidental urging of two friends last week, I finally decided to give [...]
