One Liner: Damn fine Texas-centric country
Wikipedia Genre: red dirt, country
Home: Austin!
Sunday at ___
Four albums, 2013's Coast, 2015's Geronimo, 2019's Hail Mary, and 2024's Norther (with a pair of live albums among the rest). This isn't quite outlaw country, but is a little bit more country than straight Americana would be, but its right in that same area of the musical map where those two nations border. Some electric guitar, some fiddle, some acoustic guitar, and pretty great lyrics that should be easy to sing along with. Maybe it sounds a little like the Avett Brothers, if they were a little more traditionally "country."
The most streamed is one off of the 2015 album, called "All I See Is You," with 62.6 million streams. Was under a million back in 2016, for what it's worth.
Live version, so the sound isn't quite as good as their studio version, but you get it. High energy and fun, almost jam band-ish if it weren't for the insistent fiddling. You also get the Yellowstone effect - that song was apparently used in Season 4 of the show, and that may be why it has popped into a major hit for them.
Huh. Wikipedia says they are actually from Austin, which I did not realize. I wouldn't say that you hear their name a bunch around town as a band about town. The entire episode of Yellowstone where that song was used was named after the song, which probably ramped up the excitement a little more. They also even appeared in the show, playing songs at an inaugural ball. I really enjoyed parts of the first season of that show - mainly the landscape porn - but after a little while the drama and soapyness of it removed the pleasures for me. Since then, they've gotten to play to a sold out show at Red Rocks and a jam at the Ryman, so their star is definitely shining these days.
Their old official bio claimed: "Hints of folk, rock, country and Americana all shine through an aggressive, rootsy fiddle beat stew that’s connecting with students, hipsters, bikers, roughnecks and songwriter buffs at every stop." Fiddle beat stew. Not going to get those words out of my mind for a bit. They then name check Mumford & Sons, Band of Horses, Flogging Molly, and Creedence. Bold and weird choices there, but whatever.
Before that one hit so big, the first album boasted "Dance the Night Away," with 12.7 million streams.
However, this is also that kind of name-checking country that I used to make fun of, as pioneered by Robert Earl and Pat Green, singing about Copenhagen, Wolf Brand Chili, and Shiner Beer to establish their bona fides as real Texas boys. That track above goes to the tried and true "cajuns and zydeco" well. "Work Was Through" is a name-checking paradise, from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Kurt Cobain to Johnny Cash (and the Broken Spoke, although that ain't dead yet). Other songs drop Austin, oil, Neil Young, whiskey, headin' for the coast to heal your soul, and a prayer to be buried in Texas when your time is through. That being said, this doesn't taste as craven, so I'm not as hung up on the dropping of names and well-used tropes.
What you realize after a few listens is that the lyrics are remarkably clear - which I love - meaning that you can really hear and understand the lyrics. And I think these lyrics are good, worthy of being heard. "The Mountain" is a good example, going from an a capella lament until it morphs into a fiddle breakdown, all about miners who have to go down into the under-mountain dragon who keeps the coal in his lungs. Or "Oil Town," which evokes Springsteen over an almost Irish (maybe Boston Irish) fiddle/harmonica rock track.
The two newer albums don't stray from the system that got them here - maybe the new album is a little darker-sounding? Like they were pissed when they made it? You know what is funny, I then came back to the new album today, and it sort of sounds like Springsteen tried to make an Americana album. Strange to put some space between your thoughts.
A little banjo, tambourine, and you've got a good time song. I like it, and I bet it's fun as hell to jam out to in a live setting.
However, this is also that kind of name-checking country that I used to make fun of, as pioneered by Robert Earl and Pat Green, singing about Copenhagen, Wolf Brand Chili, and Shiner Beer to establish their bona fides as real Texas boys. That track above goes to the tried and true "cajuns and zydeco" well. "Work Was Through" is a name-checking paradise, from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Kurt Cobain to Johnny Cash (and the Broken Spoke, although that ain't dead yet). Other songs drop Austin, oil, Neil Young, whiskey, headin' for the coast to heal your soul, and a prayer to be buried in Texas when your time is through. That being said, this doesn't taste as craven, so I'm not as hung up on the dropping of names and well-used tropes.
What you realize after a few listens is that the lyrics are remarkably clear - which I love - meaning that you can really hear and understand the lyrics. And I think these lyrics are good, worthy of being heard. "The Mountain" is a good example, going from an a capella lament until it morphs into a fiddle breakdown, all about miners who have to go down into the under-mountain dragon who keeps the coal in his lungs. Or "Oil Town," which evokes Springsteen over an almost Irish (maybe Boston Irish) fiddle/harmonica rock track.
The two newer albums don't stray from the system that got them here - maybe the new album is a little darker-sounding? Like they were pissed when they made it? You know what is funny, I then came back to the new album today, and it sort of sounds like Springsteen tried to make an Americana album. Strange to put some space between your thoughts.
Not too many streams for the Hail Mary album - nothing breaks 3 million - but the Norther disc has one that must be on playlists somewhere because it is over 6 million streams. "Fire in the Ocean."
This almost has some U2/Edge guitar going on in there at the start, and when the drums come in I hear Coldplay. No, wait, is that Kings of Leon? Something about that drum piece sounds 100% borrowed. But I also feel like this song would force me to just start yelling WOOOOOAOAAHGAHAHHHHHH along with the chord progression if I heard it live. If you listen to their Red Rocks live album, you can catch a feel for the experience live. And it sounds amazing. I'd go see this for sure.
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