ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
January 10, 2025
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Welcome to our first proper WSGATW since Nov 22! Just a reminder that each and every week we select just five (5) of our favorite songs released over the past seven days, including a streamable video where available. For this week's Episode we're cheating a bit to include at least one tune that was released just prior to Christmas. If this upsets you we can put you in touch with our lawyer. We don't have a lawyer.
Just the last day or so things have relaxed a bit, allowing for several nice singles and/or new release announcements like we like. Matter of fact, our trademarked Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster is fairly bursting with very recent additions, a couple of which we'll highlight on Saturday's post. To cap your first full week back from the holidays, we offer the following diverse assortment of our kind of music. We call it:
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT THiS WEEK?!!
Fust, "Spangled" Big Ugly (Dear Life, Mar 7)
Please consider this week's news of the release of Fust's third full-length The Very Best News of 2025. And add that the thing will feature contributions from People We Like such as Merce Lemon, Alex Farrar, members of War on Drugs, the Deslondes, and more. Frontguy Aaron Dowdy shares his thoughts about this terrific first single: I wanted to write a personal, pained kind of national anthem made up of esoteric and American themes like trauma and time out of joint, self-destruction and intoxication, frailty and hubris. Count us in!!
--------------------------
Matt Steinfeld, "Resurrect the Tender" single (Steinfeld, Dec 20)
We came across this in Saving Country Music's playlist, a fine source for more trad country stuff. With a phenomenal delivery and thoughtful lyrics, the simple ballad makes a strong impression: What's turning me into a stranger / Was my protection from the danger / Sometimes making your own savior takes your soul. We're featuring a live solo shot of the songwriter from last year.
--------------------------
Pigeon Pit, "bronco" Crazy Arms (Ernest Jenning, Jan 17)
It was just a couple days ago that we published an appreciation of this Olympia sextet's forthcoming full-length. This second advance single epitomizes the punk/country ethos, as well as Lomes Oleander's ability to smash so many words into a lyrical breath. It's everything we want in a band. We're offering an electric take from October with the members pinballing around the small stage of Waller's Coffee Shop in Decatur, Georgia.
--------------------------
Sarah Klang, "Childhood" Beautiful Woman (Pangur, Feb 7)
While Klang is apparently quite popular in her native Sweden, this lovely folk-pop gem is the first we've heard of her. Produced by Eric D Johnson of the Fruit Bats (and Bonny Light Horseman (and the Shins)), the song is all kinds of evocative, focusing on the anxiety and trauma of the songwriter's childhood: I want this to be the last time / That I have to go down / That I have to drown / In my childhood memories.
--------------------------
Zack Keim, "25 Years" Battery Lane (Super Sport, Feb 7)
We've been watching as Pittsburgh's Zack Keim has been steadily releasing singles from his February 7 full-length, variations on a pop-centric singer-songwriter. With its Strokes-inspired electric edge, "25 Years" is the first song from the record to lean hard into the boyish Keim's garage pop roots. The accompanying fan-shot video speaks to the song's abandon, fueled by a restless yearning to move beyond the promise of his youth.
--------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment