ROUTES & BRANCHES 

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

December 1, 2019

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

So there I was, in the midst of the Front Range's most enthusiastic snowstorm in decades, sweating over my favorite albums list for the year.  I'd pared the thing down to the requisite 30 records, but felt something was missing, that my list still needed some massaging.  Then I realized that I had misremembered the date of our albums list, and I was released.  So give me another week, a little more time for switching #22 with #23 until it all looks Just Right.  We'll share our favorite albums thing next week.

Which gives us room for one more record review, one more valuable opportunity to say, Hey, look over here!  We could shine some light on Twain's wonderfully ramshackle Adventure, or perhaps we could draw your attention to Gabriel Birnbaum's sweet 'n sour Not Alone.  I've been hoping to showcase Bloodshot's superbly ranging new sampler, Too Late to Pray, and I wouldn't be opposed at all to stirring it all into a froth with some choice words in favor of I'm You, the new CD from Hallelujah the Hills.  These are all among the best the late year has had to offer in its waning months.

But nothing fuels this humble blog like the spirit of musical discovery, capturing an artist as they bubble onto our collective radar.  This week, that act was Mail the Horse, a (roughly) Brooklyn-based band that has just shared a self-titled LP, their third.  I never expect my beloved adult children to share my musical enthusiasms.  But while my middle son was home for the holiday, he caught me digging into the outfit's oeuvre and asked if I was listening to Julian Casablancas of the Strokes.  Later, my wife remarked in passing that she was surprised to hear me listening to older music for a change.

That's the bustling musical intersection where you'll discover Mail the Horse, hoisting the banner of "cosmic country" as boldly as they do for a more contemporary strain of edgy folk.  Add horns, a generous splash of keys and stir vigorously.  With its reckless spirit and sticky guitar riff, you'd be forgiven for mistaking "Gimme Gimme" for a long forgotten garage nugget.  Likewise, you might triangulate the galloping drums and good-time pedal steel of "Purple Yellow Shade" somewhere in the smoky haze of the early 70's.  Even taking into account that retro flair, much of Mail the Horse sounds as current as contemporary acts like Whitney, Deer Tick or Blank Range.

At the reins of Mail the Horse are Michael "Hess" Hesslein and Mike "Donny" Amidon, joined by Brendan Smith (bass), Andrew Joseph Weaver (drum) and Chris May (pedal steel).  Years of slinging 4-hour sets in middle-of-nowhere venues has earned the quintet a deceptively loose groove that has evoked Exile-era Stones.  The self-tagged glorified bar band trade in faultlessly catchy pop hooks, as heard on "Convenient Fool" or the sharp "Throw Shade".  While earlier projects have favored the country or pop side of Mail the Horse's equation, their new collection is characterized to a point by a more soulful spin, as heard on the languidly sultry "Pitch and Haw".  Even the loping country ballad, "Workhouse" balances its pedal steel with horns and chiming keys.

For their third full-length, Mail the Horse have chosen to assume production duties, lending songs like "Spinning Wheel" or "Sweet Red Lies" an appealing warmth and balance.  The songs' guitars, keys and harmonica occupy equal space, and listeners shouldn't overlook moments showcasing the band's subtle vocal harmonies.  As we charge heedlessly towards the year's end, distracted by lists and superlatives, it can be easy to overlook stuff that hits the shelves in November and December.  Rest assured, there are still new sounds to be discovered, acts like Mail the Horse who ably check all our boxes. Their hybridized strain of unhurried roots rock 'n soul is too good to pass up.

- Drive-by Truckers, "Armageddon's Back in Town" The Unraveling  (ATO, Jan 31)  D
- Mountain Goats, "International Small Arms Traffic Blues" Tallahassee  (4AD, 02)
- Bill Callahan, "If You Could Touch Her At All" single  (Drag City, 19)  D
- Trampled by Turtles, "Our Town" Sigourney Fever  (Banjodad, Dec 6)
- Nora Jane Struthers, "Nice To Be Back Home" Bright Lights Long Drives First Words  (NJS, Feb 21)  D
- Hallelujah the Hills, "My Name Sounds Sinister" I'm You  (Discrete Pageantry, 19)
- Futurebirds, "Crazy Boys" Teamwork  (VL4L Records, Jan 15)
- Grahams, "Just What You Deserve" Kids Like Us  (Three Sirens, Mar 6)
- Scott H Biram, "Broadminded" Sold Out To the Devil  (Bloodshot, 19)
^ Mail the Horse, "Gimme Gimme" Mail the Horse  (Baby Robot, 19)  D
- Flatland Cavalry, "Sober Heart of Mine" Next Waltz Vol 2  (Next Waltz, 19)
- Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer, "Ol' 55" Come On Up To the House: Women Sing Waits  (Dualtone, 19)
- Hold Steady, "40 Bucks" Stay Positive  (Vagrant, 08)
- Bart Budwig, "Time For Two" Another Burn On the Astroturf  (Mama Bird, 19)
- Bonny Light Horseman, "Jane Jane" Bonny Light Horseman  (37d03d, Jan 24)
- Gabriel Birnbaum, "Blue Kentucky Mile" Not Alone  (Arrowhawk, 19)
- Angie McMahon, "Silver Springs" single  (Dualtone, 19)  D
- Luke Lalonde, "Waiting For the Light to Change" Perpetual Optimist  (Paper Bag, 19)  D
- Marcus King, "Say You Will" El Dorado  (Fantasy, Jan 17)
- Sadler Vaden, "Next To You" Anybody Out There  (Dirty Mag, Mar 6)  D
- Andrew Bryant, "True Love Will Find You In the End" single  (Magnolia State, 19)  D
- Laura Veirs, "Life Is Good Blues" July Flame  (Raven Marching Band, 10)
- Peter Case, "I Don't Worry About a Thing" If You're Going To the City: Tribute to Mose Allison  (Fat Possum, 19)  D
- Western Elstons, "Toast That Lie" Too Late to Pray: Defiant Chicago Roots  (Bloodshot, 19)
- Twain, "In the High of the Morning" Adventure  (Keeled Scales, 19)
- Johnny Cash, "Rusty Cage" Unearthed  (American, 03)
- Roger Harvey, "Raining In LA" single  (Lions Tooth, 19)
- Amanda Anne Platt & Honeycutters, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love & Understanding" Christmas On a Greyhound Bus  (Organic, 19)  D
- Green On Red, "This Time Around" This Time Around  (China, 89)
- Mary Gauthier, "Prayer Without Words" Mercy Now  (UMG, 05)

As we clear the Thanksgiving table of all the plates and platters, gravy boats and bread baskets, as we shoo away the lazy guests, we simultaneously prepare A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster with a bounty of forthcoming CDs.  This week we've been granted an opportunity to preview the January 14 self-titled full-length from Left Arm Tan.  Yep Roc Records announced a Valentines release date for the debut album from Third Mind, a California supergroup featuring Dave Alvin, Victor Krummenacher, Jesse Sykes and more.  I'm heretofore unfamiliar with the eclectic Atlanta outfit Arbor Labor Union, but I like what I've heard from their February 7 project, New Petal Instants.  And I regard Jonell Mosser's 1996 Around Townes as one of my favorite TVZ tribute discs.  She's reserved next week for the release of an archival concert recording featuring a set of collaborations with John Hall, Little Black Dress.  But don't forget to subscribe to our Spotify page.

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