For their full length debut, this seven piece "dust bowl collective" set out to make a musical snapshot which evokes the wide open spaces of Oklahoma.
This is a tall order, and is made taller by the fact that they only allow themselves eleven songs and a little under 40 minutes to achieve their goal.
The album opens promisingly with a brief, trumpets and twang instrumental (Part I) which raises hopes that we are in store for a ghost riders in the sky/open plains western homage.
Actually, this turns out to be a musical red herring. A similar instrumental (Part II) signals the second half of the album but beyond from these two widescreen cinematic flourishes the focus is distinctly narrower.
The strong Alt.Country influences are discernable but at heart this is a record rooted in retro-pop or soft rock. And given that this big band can draw from diverse mix of musical backgrounds (classical/punk/rock) I can't help feeling that relying the relatively conventional pop song structures is a missed opportunity. It sounds cohesive yet far too restrained.
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The final track Blue Water, which should be the album's climax, winds up sounding quite muted due to the flat production. In addition, lead singer Jared Deck's workmanlike performance would have been more effective if Natalie Houck's backing vocals had been given greater prominence in the mix.
I suspect that most of these songs sound ten times better in a live setting and it's a pity the record doesn't do more justice to what are clearly a talented bunch of musicians.
Band website
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