Modern Appalachia – a delight
The Lonetones are a traditional looking combo with acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin and upright bass and a vocalist with a crystal clear high lonesome sound but that’s only the sheep’s clothing as there is a wolf lurking behind the façade. A wolf of fuzzed guitar, sonic effects, barbed lyricism and social commentary.
The album opens with a beautiful mandolin driven paean where singer Steph Gunhoe rails against her home ‘Here in the South’ – I "ain’t gonna shut my mouth". This is soon followed by the title track ‘Canaries’ which rides in on a wave of effects that perfectly frame the wooden sounds that follow with Gunhoe’s vocals , dare I say.. ‘perched’.. on top. The bridge with its distorted guitar had thoughts of Wilco flying round the room.
The heart of this album belongs to the simplicity and purity of the ancient instruments as they drive each clearly defined song, indeed some of the songs could feel too slight when stripped of the artifice of production effects – ‘Mohawk’ is a good example of this. This is nit picking as there is much to love here. ‘Amen’ with its melancholy refrain, the innocence of the vocal in ‘Trickle Down’ with hints of Clare Grogan and the almost African rhythms of ‘Smart Country People’
Investigate.
Date review added: Sunday, August 09, 2009
Reviewer: keith lovejoy