featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
April 28, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
This apparently marks our blog's 882nd post, which is pretty ridiculous. To be honest, the most difficult thing isn't maintaining motivation or sustaining return-on-investment. Here at R&B HQ, we battle every week to find original ways to say, hey this is pretty good. The music part is what continues to feed us, even as we've deliberately limited ourselves to new stuff when there's so damn much old music in which we'd like to indulge now and then. Take the Gunshy, f'rinstance. Matt Arbogast's Chicago ensemble has been generating their impressively distinct strain of roots-punk since the early aughts, and we are only now discovering it (and loving it).
Of course, we've followed Andrew Bryant now for years, from his time with Water Liars through his series of excellent solo projects, the most recent of which being last year's remarkable Prodigal. Bryant has toured with Arbogast since his earliest days, maintaining a friendship that he addresses on a September 2022 edition of his Magnolia State podcast. At that point, the collaboration was without a name - Arbogast had shared acoustic demos with Bryant, attempts to make a pretty record. This back-and-forth band practice would eventually become Loose Collars, just released via Andrew Bryant's Sentimental Noises label.
I'd say the music Matt Arbogast created 'neath his Gunshy marquee is plenty pretty, albeit unconventionally so. An astonishingly expressive lyricist, he delivers his punk-born folk in a voice that will challenge Bill Callahan, Howe Gelb, or even Tom Waits for sheer broken-ness. Arbogast titled a recent (free!) Bandcamp compilation Stop Singing. While songs like "Be Better Than Me" might sand down his more abrasive edges, Loose Collars doesn't reinvent the idiosyncratic vocalist as a smooth crooner. Set to synth strings and piano, the tune layers Arbogast's vocal as he intones advice, seemingly to his children: Find joy in the quiet / Be better than me. Perhaps the sole regret is that at times these new settings can obscure his lyrics.
"Toronto" evolves from a bare piano to metronome percussion and eventually ripping guitar, a graceful blend of acoustic and electric that lends the project its fingerprint. The striking "Route 30 Tattoo" largely pares back the atmospherics to little more than a strummed guitar and ringing keys, Arbogast recalling the last days of a loved one through the eyes of another who's been left behind: She smiled just like you did at every one / Like every day's a medal or a ribbon she has won. These are heart-on-sleeve lyrics, the sort that can tread the line between sentimental and clear-eyed without ceding unnecessary ground to either.
While Andrew Bryant seems initially to have entered Loose Collars as a producer and/or arranger for Matt Arbogast's acoustic song ideas, the final product is a genuine collaboration. Bryant assumes primary vocal duties on a handful of cuts, including "Disappear" and "A Joint, a Gin, a Smile", both offering more traditional arrangements. The latter features a lovely, melodic chorus from the more typically capable singer. With Arbogast at the mic and a touch of pedal steel, "Drunk" alludes to the songwriter's relationship with alcohol: Then I asked if they would choose / A beer to fit the mood / They said I think I know just what you need / They poured a glass of water / Placed it in front of me / Looked me in the eyes and said / Don't die for what you drink.
"Libraries and Little Record Stores" features a sax passage and one of Loose Collars' most memorable songs. The atmospheric, hymnlike "Song Of Joy" closes the collection with shared vocals and crystalline synths: Leave the house tomorrow / Go for a jog / Wear a pair of socks / And walk your dog / Keep an eye on the road / For all you know / There may come a song of joy tomorrow. As a project that began as an attempt to escape tired artistic habits and limiting patterns, Loose Collars succeeds in its stated goals. Both talented and accomplished writers, Andrew Bryant and Matt Arbogast create a work that manages to acknowledge the sweet spot where the two have met since their MySpace days, while challenging each to embrace a sound that is ultimately unique. And yes, while the project explores some darker territory at times, Loose Collars succeeds as well in Arbogast's initial goal to make a pretty record.
For our final Episode each month, we make a guess at our ten (10) favorite songs for the past four weeks. Just a handful of standouts from the 120-or-so new songs that populate our Spotify ROUTES-casts every month. In theory, this list should represent the sheer diversity of the Great Pageant that is our kind of music. Sometimes, though, it just sounds like a lot of pretty midtempo folk tunes - see below. We call it:
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT APRiL?!!
1. Adeem the Artist, "Rotations" Anniversary (Four Quarters, May 3)
2. John Moreland, "Blue Dream Carolina" Visitor (Old Omens, Apr 5)
3. Morgan Wade, "Time To Love Time To Kill" Obsessed (Ladylike, Aug 16)
4. Kyle Kimbrell, "Interstate Living" Easy Truths (Cornelius Chapel, Apr 5)
5. Ana Egge, "Door Won't Close" Sharing In the Spirit (StorySound, May 17)
6. Loose Collars, "Libraries and Little Record Stores" Loose Collars (Sentimental Noises, Apr 19)
7. Iron & Wine, "Anyone's Game" Light Verse (Sub Pop, Apr 26)
8. 49 Winchester, "Yearnin' For You" Leavin' This Holler (New West, Aug 2)
9. Will Hoge, "Deadbolt" Tenderhearted Boys (Edlo, Apr 12)
10. Anna Tivel, "Bluebird" Living Thing (Fluff & Gravy, May 31)
ROUTES-cast April 28, 2024
- Staples Jr Singers, "Lost In a World Of Sin" Searching (Luaka Bop, Jun 14) D
- Kara Jackson, "Right Wrong Or Ready" single (September, 24) D
- Oliver Wood, "Light and Sweet" Fat Cat Silhouette (Honey Jar, Jun 14) D
- Lake Street Dive, "Better Not Tell You" Good Together (Fantasy, Jun 21)
- Jim James w/Leslie Stevens, "Leather & Lace" Love LA (Org, 24) D
^ Loose Collars, "Route 30 Tattoo" Loose Collars (Sentimental Noises, 24)
- Decemberists, "All I Want Is You" As It Ever Was So It Will Be Again (YABB, Jun 14)
- Iron & Wine, "Sweet Talk" Light Verse (Sub Pop, 24)
- Dr Dog, "Talk Is Cheap" Dr Dog (We Buy Gold, Jul 19) D
- Damnwells, "Easy Tiger (ft Morgan Wade)" Bad At Beautiful (Poor Man, 24) D
- Lasers Lasers Birmingham, "Tractor Beam" single (Alex Owen, 24) D
- Aaron West & Roaring Twenties, "Dead Leaves" In Lieu Of Flowers (Hopeless, 24)
- Hallelujah the Hills, "Here Goes Nothing (ft Titus Andronicus)" single (Discrete Pageantry, 24)
- GospelbeacH, "York Blvd" Wiggle Your Fingers (Curation, 24)
- Richard Thompson, "Freeze" Ship To Shore (New West, May 31)
- Joe Kaplow, "Tunnel Vision" Posh Poodle Krystal and Toe (Fluff & Gravy, May 17)
- Lawrence Rothman, "R Blood (ft SG Goodman)" Plow That Broke the Plains (KRO, 24)
- Yarn, "Turn Off the News" Born Blessed & Grateful To Be Alive (Symphonic, Jul 26)
- Tim Easton, "Jacqueline" Find Your Way (Black Mesa, May 17)
- Mastersons, "Good Country Mile" Said the Firefly To the Hurricane (Tasty Goody, 24)
- Elliott BROOD, "Dried Up" Town and Country (Six Shooter, 24)
- John Moreland, "One Man Holds the World Hostage" Visitor (Old Omens, 24)
- Anna Tivel, "Desperation" Living Thing (Fluff & Gravy, May 31)
- James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg, "Nicest Distinction" All Gist (Paradise Of Bachelors, 24)
- Lost Dog Street Band, "Divine To Be" Survived (LDSB, 24)
- Charley Crockett, "America" $10 Cowboy (Son Of Davy, 24)
- Johnny Cash, "Well Alright" Songwriter (Mercury, Jun 28) D
- Tyler Halverson, "Fly Over Me Angel" Western Amerijuana Pt 1 EP (Atlantic, 24)
- T Bone Burnett, "Little Darling (ft Lucius)" Other Side (Verve, 24)
- Dead Tongues, "I Am a Cloud Now" I Am a Cloud Now (Psychic Hotline, Aug 9) D
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To enjoy our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months. Or click here for a preview:
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