Because this blog has become a very sociable thing recently, and I have never actually met or spoken to Rich from Atlanta blog Cable & Tweed, I have neglected his site a little bit of late. This is foolish because Rich has is responsible for introducing me to more than a couple of bands that have gone on to become firm Toad favourites (and he has something of an ear for things that Mrs. Toad will like as well, like The Builders & the Butchers and The 63 Crayons).
Well the latest band to emerge from his splendidly comic-strewn pages is called Porlolo. Based around the multiple talents of Colorado-based Erin Roberts, there is sweet, sad indie-folk here that is likely to be about as guaranteed to appeal to Toad Readers as anything I can think of. She’s got a wonderfully lovelorn voice, and the whispers of trumpet and violin are just gorgeous, so I honestly don’t think you can go wrong with this.
There’s a new album out in the middle of July, and I’ve asked for a promo copy to review. It feels a bit mean, begging freebies from small artists, but that label launch wasn’t cheap, believe me! Anyhow, I am really looking forward to hearing it, and you can buy her previous record Storm & Season from CDBaby if you, like I, find you can’t bring yourself to wait.
Porlolo – There is No I in Athens
Porlolo – Firehouse
MySpace | Buy Storm & Season
Once again I find myself reviewing a record I was turned onto by Rich from Cable & Tweed, proving that his Tweedar is active and as sharp as ever (he’ll kill me for that – sorry Rich!).
If you like your indie steeped in stories to fill the music with meaning, then Sleepy Horses are for you. Having recorded Somewhere Out West… front-man Nic Goodson was found as good as dead in a hotel room late last year. Although he was later revived in hospital he was told that the nerve damage to his right leg was so severe that he would never walk again. Moving back to Texas, Goodson set about defying his doctors and the recent re-forming of Sleepy Horses as a three-piece with two of his close friends has proved full vindication of his stubbornness.
While we await the new material this revitalised line-up produces, there is still their earlier album Somewhere Out West, Lonesome For You, that finds itself somewhat overshadowed by the events since its release. The music is a sort of epic desert alt-country which will be familar to Toad readers from its resemblance to Richmond Fontaine and even some of the recent Willard Grant Conspiracy or Calexico output. Sleepy Horses overlap with them at the dusty, desolate Americana end of their spectrum and then pull away into distorted shoegaze at the other end.
Their music seems to be layered, with the introspective, angsty guitar overlaid on a constant base of South-Western Americana. Towards the end of the album the guitar work gets more and more tense which perhaps drags this record away from the sort of thing that you’d play all the way through at a dinner party. Let’s face it, some faceless Norah Jones fan is bound to start pursing the mouth as the guitar solos slowly get more drawn out and emotive – never raucous, just intense.
Given how well this takes its place in the pantheon of dusty Southern Americana I am amazed Rich had to get in touch and personally demand that I listen to it. I’m bloody glad he did though.
Sleepy Horses – Lubbock Love Song
Sleepy Horses – Floods
myspace | cdbaby
