I realized recently that I haven’t updated this at all this year, and it’s already May (and late May, at that). So here goes. [Author's note: this is my first time really writing about a specific album at a length longer than a paragraph. I'm going to try to do this more often, and with time I hope I can make them more of what I think album previews should be.]
This blog is called “Road Signs and Rock Songs” for two reasons: (1) I was listening to the song of the same name by The Ataris when I decided to start it, and (2) I envisioned writing, aside from poetry and prose, about two things. Namely, music and travel. Aside from one poorly-drafted road trip diary and a smattering of music posts, that vision hasn’t seen any daylight. My attempt at actually doing that begins now.
Today I present two songs by The Rural Alberta Advantage, a band that I really got into last year when I first heard their debut full-length Hometowns. I was drawn to their sound by a number of things: the carefree (but certainly not careless), off-key, Jeff Magnum-esque vocals; the lyrical imagery of exactly what one would expect from the band’s name; the a capella bits(!); and the helter-skelter, almost jazzy (and never, ever forgiving) rhythm section. Re: the imagery, rural Alberta sounds like a wonderful place, and while they seem sad to have invariably left it, nostalgia makes great tunes sometimes.
The first song opens the album and would be, I suppose, their signature, the history of the RAA finely condensed into a three-and-a-half minute ballad. It’s the first song I heard by these guys, and the one that drew me to have high expectations for the rest of the record (which were overwhelmingly exceeded). The second has been on repeat every humid evening since I first heard it (with the exception of when I’m playing The Hold Steady, but that’s for another post), and showcases the RAA’s more reserved, albeit no less idealistically reminiscent, side. Musically enticing and lyrically concise, this record brings together a sense of longing, of the highs and lows of a place you once knew, into neat little pop-folk packages. The only thing that irks me about it is the way its thirteen songs seem like nine or ten; the best ones are far too short and a few toward the end run together. Nonetheless, it’s become one of my newer favorites and has earned a pretty frequent rotation spot in my collection.
“The Ballad of the RAA”
“In the Summertime”
