The Civil Wars - The Civil Wars Album Review

Origin: Nashville, Tennessee

Genre: Americana/Folk/Alternative Country

Record Label: Columbia, Sensibility Records

Band Members: Joy Williams and John Paul White

 

After months of being on hiatus, The Civil Wars are back in the music scene with their new self-titled album. This album features twelve incredible and haunting tracks that are each filled with a story. Although many bands fail to make their sophomore album memorable, The Civil Wars have beaten the odds and made a remarkable sequel to Barton Hollow.

 

The album kicks off with the track entitled “The One That Got Away”. This song provides a strong, distinctive sound that sets up the tone for the rest of the tracks. Williams takes the lead with powerful vocals that harmonize flawlessly with White’s lower voice. With added instruments, this song delivers an edgy tone that remains throughout the album. White takes the lead on the second track of the album entitled “I Had Me a Girl”. His low tenor voice combined with his high falsetto creates a masculine, commanding energy to the country-rock song. Williams adds a sweeter tone that evens out the track and adds balance.

 

To add diversity, the duo winds down for a softer, melancholy track called “Tell Mama”. Lyrically enchanting, this song is as moving as it is dark. Williams performs with a more gentle approach that allows the listener to drift away. My favourite track on the album would have to be “Devil’s Backbone”. This song is badass on all levels, and the combination of the drums and the power behind the vocalists brought this song to life.

Although The Civil Wars are known for their soft, acoustic-folk sound, they have been experimenting more with country and rock genres that make this album truly unique. Each song told a vivid story, and the lyrics made their self-titled album dark and mysterious. This, in my opinion, is their best album yet.

The Civil Wars: 9.1/10

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Friendly Savages - O, Joshua! Album Review

Genre: Indie Rock/Folk

Origin: Austin, Texas

Record Label: Unsigned

Band members: Josh Coulter, Scott Krenitski, John McDonald, Malcolm White, and Michael Summers

 

What do you get when you mix folk rock with four young men from Austin, Texas? You get the Friendly Savages and their new album O, Joshua! With quirky instruments, original lyrics and entertaining, talented male vocals, this band is gaining speed in the music industry. With a sixteen-track album brought to the table, this unsigned band has a lot to offer.

 

O, Joshua! starts out with one short, beautiful piano instrumental called “To an Asteroid”. Although it has a more solemn tone, the rest of the album maintains a fairly upbeat, rock feel. The instrumental was followed by the song “Counted Lost”. While it started out with gentle guitars and piano, it gained urgency towards the final half of this brilliantly-written folk piece. The lyrics contain optimism in dark times, and convey a sense of sanguinity for the listener. Additionally, “The Hold of the Lord on my Sparrow” is also filled with a rustic sound, as well as emotional lyrics and a fantastic combination of ringing banjo strings and heart-rending acoustic guitar.

 

The album isn’t just filled with solemn instrumentals and half-sombre, half-cheerful lyrics. Songs such as “The Escape” and “I Have Your Ghost” are energetic, bright songs that are fun to rock out to. A surprising twist was when a lovely female vocalist joined the lead singer in “The Escape”. With faultless harmonies, these two conquered the song and gave it a certain unexpected edge. “Her Locket on a Chain” let the lead take charge and show off his gleaming vocal abilities, and showcased a more bluesy sound towards the end with the combination of instruments.

 

Overall, the album portrayed the highs and lows of life. It showed a viewpoint from someone who has loved, lost, and found who they are along the way. Furthermore, it gave one the sense of hope in complicated times, and paired that emotion with the happiness that one can find. The emotions were well-planned out, as it went in a story-like chronological order. “Gold and Silver (Love is Lost)” ended the heartbreaking part of the album, and “For Grace (Love is Found)” started the more contented side of the story.

 

With a fine mix of acapella, instrumental, glum, and cheerful tracks, O, Joshua! has found a home in my favourite album collection. With brilliantly-written lyrics, sensational harmonies, and a well-thought out story line, Friendly Savages delivered near-flawless songs. This album contains all that one needs to start and end their day. It is highly recommended to take a listen, and be prepared to have your ears and mind rejuvenated.

 

O, Joshua! : 9/10

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River City Extension: Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Your Anger Album Review

Album: Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Your Anger

Genre: Indie Folk/Alternative Rock

Origin: Toms River, New Jersey

Record Label: XOXO Records, Anchor and Hope Music

Band Members: Joe Michelini, Mike Constaney, Dan Melius, Jenn Fantaccione, Nick Cucci, Patrick O’Brien, James Ramirez, Nicole Scorscone, and Sam Tacon.

From Toms River, New Jersey comes a unique and powerful band called River City Extension. This nine-member folk rock band has released one EP, and two full-length albums. Their first album, The Unmistakeable Man, received positive reviews from both Paste magazine and NPR. The band is composed of guitarist and vocalist Joe Michelini, drummer Mike Constaney, trumpet player Dan Melius, cellist Jenn Fantaccione, electric guitarist and vocalist Nick Cucci, keyboardist Patrick O’Brien, bassist and banjoist James Ramirez, additional string player Nicole Scorscone, and vocalist Sam Tacon.

This large and distinctive band had released their newest album, Don’t Let the Sun Go down on Your Anger, on June 5^th, 2012. The name derives from the verse Ephesians 4:26 in the Bible (rivercityextension.com).The album has been a success, as many music critics, such as Paste magazine and Alternative Press, have given high ratings and praised the sophomore album. The fourteen track album contains beautifully-written, soulful lyrics that will catch you off-guard. The lyrics are honest, and it shows the many different sides of life and relationships.

The album opens with a short, but incredibly sincere track called “Glastonbury”. The song combines heartfelt lyrics with poignant male vocals, and that style continues throughout the entirety of the album. The vocals change from male to female in numerous songs, which adds dimension and a softer feel to each track. The third track of the album, “Slander”, contains more imagery than the other songs, and also has a more audacious feel. The bass guitar, drums, banjo, and electric guitar arrangement in this song adds to the hurt-filled vocals to paint the portrait of betrayal that is being portrayed. The ninth track on the album, “Ballad of Oregon”, creates a lighter atmosphere. Although the song contains themes such as loneliness and getting over someone, it is also filled with hope. The song was featured on the MTV television series “Catfish: The TV Show”.

The album dealt with themes such as betrayal, break-ups, finding oneself, love, and personal/spiritual issues (rivercityextension.com). River City Extension captivated me with their enjoyable and complex instruments, but they made me completely addicted with their sincere lyrics and striking vocals. Don’t Let the Sun Go down on Your Anger is definitely one of my favourite albums, and I can’t wait to hear more from them.

Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Your Anger: 8.89/10

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Of Monsters and Men: My Head Is An Animal Album Review

Genre: Indie Folk

Origin: Iceland

Label: Record/Universal

Band Members:  Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdótti, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Brynjar Leifsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson, and Kristján Páll Kristjánsson.

Of Monsters and Men is an up-beat folk band from Iceland. Their rise to fame began when the six band members competed in Músiktilraunir, which is an Icelandic Battle of the Bands, and won. In the summer of 2011, their first single, “Little Talks”, became number one in Iceland. The song eventually made its way across the globe, and it is now known and loved world-wide. In December of 2012, the song was featured in the singing competition, “The Voice".

Since then, the band has created one studio album, called “My Head is an Animal”. The album contains songs such as “Little Talks”, “Six Weeks”, “Mountain Sound” and “King and Lionheart”. The songs all carry different, unique meanings. While most of the album is upbeat, “Love, Love, Love" veers away from the original theme of adventure and joy. The song’s lyrics deal with heartbreak, and losing someone that you care about. The lyrics of each song vary greatly, and each one usually has to do with an adventure.

Since the success of “My Head is an Animal", Of Monsters and Men have been performing at major music festivals across the globe, including Osheaga. They are also scheduled to play at T in the Park in Scotland in July.

Of Monsters and Men will take you on a voyage that will keep you humming along well after you’ve listened to the entire album.

My Head is an Animal: 9/10

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The Civil Wars: Barton Hollow Album Review

Genre: Americana/Folk/Acoustic

Origin: Nashville, Tennessee

Record Label: Sensibility Music LLC

Band Members: Joy Williams and John Paul White

 

Joy Williams and John Paul White became a band known as The Civil Wars in 2008 after meeting at a writing camp. The duo became successful after their first single, “Poison & Wine”, was heard on Grey’s Anatomy. Since then, their songs have been featured on various soundtracks, such as The Vampire Diaries, Nashville, and The Hunger Games.

The band has recently released their first album, Barton Hollow, which features fourteen unique songs about the ups and downs of relationships. This album also features covers of “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5, “Dance Me to the End of Love” by Leonard Cohen, and “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson.

In addition to their covers, this album also has plenty of original and haunting songs, such as “Barton Hollow”, “Falling”, and “My Father’s Father”. They were also featured on The Hunger Games soundtrack, with their song “Kingdom Come”. They performed another song, “Safe and Sound”, with Taylor Swift.

The Civil Wars is hauntingly raw and beautiful, and their music will compel you within the first song.

 

Barton Hollow: 8.6/10

 

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The Rural Alberta Advantage Review

Genre: Indie Rock

Origin: Alberta, Canada

Record Label: Saddle Creek/Paper Bag Records

Band members: Nils Edenloff, Paul Banwatt, and Amy Cole.

 

The Rural Alberta Advantage became a breakout band in 2009, and has since then released two studio albums under the record label of Saddle Creek and Paper Bag Records. Their first album, “Hometowns”, was listed as one the top 50 albums of 2009 by Stereogum. This thirteen track album contained songs such as: “Frank, AB”, “Edmonton”, “The Deathbridge in Lethbridge”, and “Four Night Rider”. All of these songs are references to life, love, loss and leaving your hometown behind.

 

Their second album, “Departing”, was made to be a companion album to “Hometowns”. This album had ten songs with the themes of growing up and moving on, and will add closure to the first album. This album includes songs such as “Stamp”, “Tornado ‘87”, and “Muscle Relaxants.

 

This band is sure to bring you back to your Albertan roots, and get you pumped for the day ahead.

 

“Hometowns” – 8.6/10

“Departing” – 8.3/10

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