It seems like every guy in a punk or post-hardcore band ends up recording at least an album’s worth of alt-country tunes these days. Not everyone can make the same crossover that Dallas Green has seen with City & Colour. Dustin Kensrue, of Thrice (see yesterday’s post about Thrice’s The Artist In The Ambulance), released Please Come Home on Equal Vision Records back in 2007. The albums’ quick 30-minute, 8 song tracklisting is heavily influenced by classic country tunes and bar rock and Dustin’s own Christian faith. Many of the religious overtones found in Thrice songs are amplified here. But I can’t help but make the same comparison with this record, as all of the other punk goes country records: it sounds like Ryan Adams Junior. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, sometimes I just wish these guys would find a different formula.
Enjoy The Ride Records licensed Please Come Home this year from Equal Vision to give it the much needed vinyl treatment. With just Dustin, a guitar, and some minor percussion, there’s tons of open space on the album. Not to mention the beautiful reverse board gatefold jacket and complimentary vinyl color choices. I grabbed both variants that were made available in an attempt to try to score one of the randomly inserted Brown/White swirl variants, which were limited to only 50 pressed. No luck. Anyone interested in an unplayed copy of this record on brown wax? Get in touch.
Temporary Residence are going to have a hard time topping this release this year. Take Care Take Care Take Care has been highly anticipated for the past 4 years of EITS semi-hiatus after dropping the impeccable All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone in 2007. Buzz for the new album was a mixed bag, hot with anticipation for new music from the post-rock flagship, cold because of the odd choice of a lead track they unleashed on us back in January. The track, “Trembling Hands” was a bit poppy with an odd repetitive, almost hypnotic “oh oh oh” chorus. Personally I was a fan. But Take Carex3, as a whole, holds its own with everything you’d expect from EITS. There’s beautiful arcs of guitars being plucked sent through intense delay pedals, there’s humming drums, there’s the feeling of warmth washing over you.
Junius links:
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Repetitions is Blueneck’s follow up to their incredible album The Fallen Host, from 2009. Repetitions is a darker album riddled with organs and haze and depth that only headphones have allowed me to even begin to explore. Blueneck’s sound borrows equally from Sigur Ros and Radiohead, while managing to carve out their own niche in the ambient genre (note: there are vocals! Gorgeous, hazy, haunting vocals). This is beautiful autumn & winter music, for anyone gearing up for hoodie weather.
Stream & buy here. I HIGHLY recommend checking out “Sawbones” from Repetitions and “Lilitu” from The Fallen Host (at the very bottom of the page).
a visual blog dedicated to vinyl records and the bands & labels that put them out. Records featured on this blog come from my personal collection. Want your record featured? Get in touch.
