The Springsteen comparisons are bound to follow these guys. From the opening Nebraska reminiscent harmonica wail to the way that they combine pop hooks with a blues/ blues-influenced rock base, the similarities are there. They tour constantly and put on a hell of a live show. As people, I’m quite fond of them, and as a band, I think they’re getting better with each record. I liked Thwap!. I was surprisingly and pleasantly impressed by how much I liked Taco Blessing. I got an earlier recording of Take It, Somebody, and didn’t take it out of my headphones for over a week straight. And that may have been the problem. When I got the official release, I listened to it a few times before putting the earlier recording back on because something felt slightly off. There were a few times on the final issue that it feels a little too thought out (like in some of the vocal inflections), whereas on the earlier recording, it feels organic. It’s still a damn fine record that I’ve been listening to (and will continue to) steadily, I just prefer it with a little more rawness.
–megan (Dirtnap)