Dawes and Blitzen Trapper both build songs out of the stuff of American myth.
Dawes sing in voices tinged with twang and dust; there are strumming guitars, tinkling pianos, and solid rhythm sections. Their songs are simple stories of love and loss, home and away, roots and rootlessness. The fuzzy electric guitar melodies sometimes evoke Neil Young, and multi-part harmonies add gravity and a sense of cohesion to the appealing looseness—the chorus of “When My Time Comes” almost rolls into gospel territory. Dawes usually doesn’t move faster than a pleasant lope, but when things go too fast, it’s good to have an anchor to hold on to.
Blitzen Trapper tend to be interested in the weirder side of things—one of their best songs, “Black River Killer,” from the 2008 album Furr, is a mini spaghetti Western about a man’s inability to escape his violent tendencies. They recently released a new album, American Goldwing. Usually a six-piece band with several singers and a lot of multi-instrumentalists, their live performance is unpredictable and thoroughly enjoyable, jumping from slow country ballads to tough, noisy, guitar rock, and from full band workouts to solo acoustic (and harmonica) numbers by lead singer Eric Earley.
These two bands play at the Black Cat Monday night (10/24), along with another opener, Smoke Fairies. It’s already sold out, but we have your chance to go: a pair of free tickets!
To enter, name your favorite “American song” in the comments. A song about America, a song by an American band, whatever you’d like.
We’re going with Violent Femmes’ “American Music.” (Don’t you like American music, baby?)
The winner will be chosen on Friday (10/21) at noon.
