A new review just in from the
Dallas Observer:
Scott Loomer, namesake and leader of this Canadian sextet, is a songwriter of unqualified vision. Like Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy and Blue Rodeo's Greg Keelor, Loomer is capable of encapsulating raw feeling and humor by way of cryptic lyrics and detailed musical arrangements.
Songs of the Wild West Island, the band's sophomore effort, is a consistently challenging and poetically lovely work, full of literary allusions and just the right amount of alt-country swagger.
"You say your name is Paul/I think you think it's Jesus," sings Loomer on "Bang the Nails," one of several cuts with underlying (however obscure) religious imagery. Elsewhere, Loomer's concerns turn to matters of the heart with equally metaphorical results. "I am just some old ice cream, all cold and hard and grainy/Hiding underneath the bread at the bottom of your freezer," Loomer sings on "Caramel Heart" as the band (especially keyboardist Mike Taylor) plays understatedly behind him.
Sounding like a beautiful amalgamation of the Gourds and Arcade Fire, Songs of the Wild West Island is a heady and heartening display of emotion and quiet intensity. Rarely settling for the norm, Loomer makes music of a distinct quality, songs that assess the past, present and future with equal apprehension.
- Darryl Smyers, Dallas Observer
...and from
Country Standard Time:
There are a number of names in the pantheon of artists who use country music as the springboard to more invigorating and experimental sonic expressions, from Ryan Adams (and his various band guises) to Wilco to Son Volt to the Jayhawks. This illustrious roll call needs to be lengthened by at least one name - the Canadian sextet Loomer, led by songwriter par excellence Scott Loomer.
The band's 2004 debut, "Love is a Dull Instrument," inspired comparisons to Gram Parsons, Uncle Tupelo and the Velvet Underground and earned the album lavish praise and best-of-year status among a lot of critics. Loomer's latest matches and surpasses the level established by its predecessor, from the powerfully atmospheric opening track, "Bang the Nails," to the Gary Louris-meets-James McMurtry swing of "Anastasia" to the double clutched twang of "Dirt Angel" to the scuffed heartache of "Turnbuckle" to the Vigilantes of Love swagger of "Sunday Driver Down."
Like his south-of-the-northern-border brethren, Scott Loomer and his crack band understands the electric and eclectic web that connects the power of rock to the passion of country to the introspection of folk and the inherent wisdom in throwing them all into the musical cement mixer to see what happens. In Loomer's case, it's alt.-country perfection. (loomeronline.com)
- Brian Baker, Country Standard Time
...and from
Freight Train Boogie:
LOOMER - 5 stars
Songs of the Wild West Island... (Newtone)
Epic, sweeping, understated, simple. These are some of the adjectives that come to mind when trying to describe Loomer's music and if they sound contradictory, that's ok. Songs of the Wild West Island contains multitudes. Toronto native Scott Loomer writes cryptic and poetic songs, soulfully sung, while his band mates supply lush sounds capes with solid beats, shimmering pedal steel and warm organ. Forget the comparisons (Son Volt and Velvet Underground have been thrown out there) Loomer have forged their own sound out of familiar tools that sound fresh and intriguing. This is one of those recordings that raises the stakes and delivers the promise of fellow travelers in the alt/indie/country/rock area (Richmond Fontaine and Frog Holler come to mind) Consider it alt country's Darkness on the Edge of Town and my pick for the CD of the year.
Here are some of the other, lovely words from around the world....For Toronto's Loomer, country music is not a career move. 'Songs of the Wild West Island' proves that for Scott Loomer and company, country music is a state of mind. What sets Loomer apart from the usual alt-country mold is that they revel in and even celebrate the non-country contradictions in their music. On the hypnotic Caramel Heart for example, they lock into a propulsive groove where the drums hang in lockstep to an urgent bass line and a Hammond organ and the pedal steel guitars ride over top like late era Velvet Underground taking a walk with Gram Parsons. While they transcend themselves on more occasions than just the one here, the bottom line is that in between a few cowpunk stompers, straight ahead ballads (including one with a gorgeous counterpoint
vocal by Sarah Harmer) and the above-noted cosmic cowboy melting pot, Loomer on Songs of the Wild West Island show signs of grace and greatness unheard since late-period Uncle Tupelo.
Rating: A-
- Bob Klanac, Scecne Magazine
Loomer's sophomore release expands on their exceptional debut. Scott Loomer's songwriting and the band's rich, cinematic sound, compliments of Andrew Lindsay, Brian Duguay, Mike Taylor, Iain Thomson, and John DeHaas, move them into the upper-tier alongside stalwarts Ryan Adams, Wilco, and The Jayhawks. From the opening notes of Bang The Nails to the closing of Endless Holiday, Loomer stakes their claim as one of the best bands working in the loosely-defined Americana genre. -- Jeff Weiss, Miles of Music, USA
..An alt-country gem... .. Bob Harris, BBC, Maverick Magazine, UK
..This is a band on the eve of an enormous break-through..masterfully sophisticated melodies..will undoubtedly appear on a lot of different Lists of the Year for 2006... .. Jan Janssen, Real Roots Café, Netherlands