Upon first hearing the Americana rich bluesy folk outfit, Hurray for the Riff Raff, it would be hard to correctly guess the path of lead Alynda Lee Segarra. Growing up in the Bronx, Segarra developed an appreciation for the Motown and doo-wop music that flooded the streets. These influences permeate in tracks like ‘No One Else’. Alynda shares a resemblance and demeanor to fellow Puerto Rican descendant, actress Aubrey Plaza. After leaving home, where she lived with her aunt and uncle, she traveled America by hopping freight trains, finally landing in New Orleans. Her travels and time in the Big Easy during the rebuild come pouring through the speakers on the band’s latest release, Small Town Heroes.
Their sixth US release utilizes a variety of instruments and talents of all four band members. Joining Segarra in the Riff Raff are Yosi Pearlstein (violin, percussion, fiddle), Dan Cutler (bass), Sam Doores (guitar), and Casey McAllister (keyboard). Hurray also uses folk staples accordions, organs, washboards, and even a saw to accompany Alynda’s banjo and fellow Bronx-born Norah Jones-esque raspy-whispering vocals.
Small Town Heroes opens with ‘Blue Ridge Mountain’ that encompasses all aspects of the bluegrass tunes you’ve come to know. The banjo plucking, boot tapping ditty mixes the motherly twang in her voice to recreate the sounds made in these same mountains. ‘Crash on the Highway’ does a great job of portraying a groups longing to be home while going nowhere, a feeling many Atlantans have recently come to know this winter. The Riff Raff do a great job of mixing upbeat optimistic songs with, serenading slowed down titles. The guitar driven ‘The New SF Bay Blues’ showcase the bands ability to bring the blues emotions they’ve incorporated on previous recordings. Alynda lets her voice take flight on the aforementioned ‘No One Else’ molding the piano baseline with her wide ranging vocals to create of folk-doo whop dream. The song works as on open door to the rest of the album that pours passionate vocals and an expanding repertoire of musical ability. ‘Forever is Just a Day’ brings the album to a close in a somber funeral like manner that should be associated with ending something loved.
Hurray for the Riff Raff brings back true Americana music on this entire album. With the emergence of indie folk over the past few years, not many bands have attacked the genre Americana for an entire album with the unrelenting emotion Hurray for the Riff Raff has captured.
Top Tracks
No One Else
Blue Ridge Mountain
The New SF Bay Blues
I Know It’s Wrong (But That’s Alright)
B Rating: 86
R Rating: 85
Overall: 85.5
Local Dates: Saturday, March 1st at Variety Playhouse with Shovels & Rope (sold out)
Like this album? Try….from 2013
Shovels & Rope – O’ Be Joyful
Inside Llweyn Davis Soundtrack
Moondoggies – Adios I’m A Ghost
Mount Moriah – Miracle Temple
CHEATAHS – CHEATAHS
Developed by guitarist and lead singer Nathan Hewitt as a bedroom project, he named the band Cheatahs as he was cheating on his other band, Little Death. Born and raised in a small town outside Edmonton, Canada, he later moved to London where his musical quests began. Hewitt began working on Cheatahs in 2009 with fellow ‘cheaters’ John Arthur Webb and Neil Eu. In 2012 the band lineup underwent an overhaul to its current set with Dean Deid (bass, vocals), Marc Raue (drums), and Hewitt’s friend James Wignall (guitar, vocals).
After releasing EPs in the past the foursome put out their self-titled LP on Wichita Records. The band brings different perspectives on their sound as they come from different places across the globe including Alberta, Canada, San Diego, Dresden, Germany, and Leicester, England. They began working on the album by headed first to the country, spending a week in an isolated, old stone-floored cottage in Cornwall, before coming back to complete the album at Dropout studios. ‘Kenworth’ is a tribute to his late father, a truck driver. The song, titled after the truck his father drove, is a description of what he Hewitt believes his dad’s last drive home was like.
Cheatahs is an “exploration of the possibilities of modern guitar music”. The album travels through a variety of sounds mixing rock subgenres punk, surf, with pinches of grunge, garage, and lo-fi. The intro track builds with a collection of static, guitar, and lo-fi mix preparing you for the volume coming before a sloppy cut into ‘Geographic’.
Top Tracks
Northern Exposure
IV
The Swan
Kenworth
B Rating: 78
R Rating: 78
Overall: 78
Local Shows: No local shows currently
Like this album? Try….from 2013
Wavves – Afraid of Heights
Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold
Yuck – Glow and Behold
Savages – Silence Yourself
Droans – I See Seaweed
No comments:
Post a Comment