Some great work again this week, featuring:
- Pylon Reenactment Society
- Dave Rawlings
- Iron and Wine
- The Discussion
- Sunglow
- The War on Drugs
Pylon Reenactment Society
Athens, Ga.
“Buzz” from the forthcoming ep Part Time Punks Session, now available for pre-order
After seeing a magical, rollicking rock show from Pylon Reenactment Society at Bragg Jam in Macon this summer, I kept expecting “Buzz” to explode into a wild party of its own, but this first track off Pylon Reenactment Society’s forthcoming ep becomes more restrained, almost haunting, as Vanessa Briscoe Hay’s intense vocals drop to almost a whisper at the end. The effect is really beautiful — I can’t wait to hear the whole record. – bill
.
Dave Rawlings
Nashville, TN
Poor David’s Almanack
I’ll admit that I’m a late-comer to Dave Rawlings, though obviously not his work with a variety of other top notch Americana/Alt-Country/Rock & Roll artists; Gillian Welch, members of The Heartbreakers, Dawes, Old Crow Medicine Show, and notably co-writing with Ryan Adams. After catching The Dave Rawlings Machine at the 2016 Savannah Music Festival I was hooked. Badass picker, soulful expressions of truth, and a great storyteller are just a few of his attributes. Check out his third solo album, released this month. – Jon Waits
.
Iron and Wine
Durham, NC
“Call It Dreaming” from Beast Epic, out now on the mighty Sub Pop Records
This album kind of snuck up on me, to be honest. But Sam Beam’s vocals, lyrics, and instrumentation are like a comforting and out of the way spot that always feels like home to me. Does that sound cheesy? I don’t care, listening to Iron and Wine flat out makes me happy. Beast Epic is a bit more stripped down than the last couple albums, more of a throw back to the earlier albums in his discography. No complaints here. I expect heavy rotation of this one during quiet times at the house.
tom
.
The Discussion
Savannah, Ga.
European Tour EP
Kylesa guitarist and co-front Laura Pleasants put together a new project this year, releasing the recordings just before the band’s debut show last Friday. (You can read about that show on this blog at a later date.) Originally, The Discussion shared two tracks via several European websites ahead of their extensive tour across the pond. On Sunday, they dropped three more tracks to finish out the five-track EP. One sentence visual review: Kylsea meets The Cure in the backroom of a metal bar that just finished a shoegaze show. —Joshua
.
The War On Drugs
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A Deeper Understanding
Savannah Stopover alums, The War On Drugs, released their fourth studio album this week. My roommate said to me recently, there are no good solos in rock music anymore. I wasn’t sure if I agreed or not, but there does seem to be a trend away from flamboyant guitar solos in rock. Anyways, this album is full of great guitar solos, perhaps some of the best I’ve heard in a while. Otherwise, this is another staple WOD album, equally full of great lyrics, melodies, and damn good songwriting. Once sentence visual review: New wavy Bruce Springsteen finds Tom Petty’s songbook and tops the tracks with Dinosaur Jr. slash Slash guitar solos. —Joshua
.
Sunglow
Chicago, Il. (Savannah, Ga.)
Great Time of Day
Sunglow, a.k.a. Daniel Lynch, bid his native Savannah farewell this year, moving to Chicago to make moves with his love. Fortunately, we have the internet, so really we’re all just living in the same digital bubble. Savannah-founded label, Furious Hooves, released a tape and digital version of Sunglow’s third album, Great Time of Day, this week. One sentence visual review: Weirdo-indie-pop master mixer finds NIN cassette in garage, inspiring futuristic dance music and it all makes perfect, beautiful sense in a world that is increasingly nonsensical.—Joshua