Yankee Reality by Hush Arbors
LABEL: Ecstatic Peace!

“It's not a guitar to simply add a little zing to the rhythm, but to rip the flood gates open and to start the festivities.”

It’s weird when new music these days sounds good. I’m not obsessed with the indie scene, but I've been surprised with the output of quality: there’s some impressive sounds filtrating through the airwaves nowadays… and it's a nice change. Hush Arbors’ new album, Yankee Reality, is following in the same melodic, chamber-chanting vain as bands like Grizzly Bear and the Fleet Foxes. It’s full of wilderness and closed-eyed cooings, snowflakes and autumn leaves. It reminds me of childhood festivals, not circuses or amusement parks, but Christmas gatherings with carols and simmering cups of cider, a time when everything seemed pure and connected and cozy… perhaps Pagan is the word I’m looking for.  

But where is the music going? The fear that Crosby, Stills and Nash’s Romeo-harmonizing-beneath-the-balcony or the Zombies falsettos might have too much of a effeminate grip on these great musicians, that by some chance it might not have the balls that rock and roll needs to carry the poor boys over to the good side. That fear is lingering in the back of my mind and it worries me that perhaps I am alone in believing in balls and Rock and Roll.   

And then the twang of Hush’s guitar rips out of nowhere and… "nice, perhaps this indie thing is taking off to somewhere, bringing us to somewhere." The second track on the album, “Lisbon,” is that song on there, with a wild Jack White snarling guitar riff, that takes the record off and running. He’s no Hell’s Angel or Hemingway, but there’s enough zest and rebellion in the angry guitar that could suffice for riding music. It's not a guitar to simply add a little zing to the rhythm, but to rip the flood gates open and to start the festivities.

For the historians out there, Hush Arbors sounds like the Byrds. He's got the jingle jangle rhythm guitar that's similar to Roger McGuinn's 12 string Rickenbacker. Listening to "Coming Home" has a striking resemblance to a Byrds song featured on "Easy Rider." There's definitely some Zombies in the singing, and again, some spacey, cozy jams with pounding, echoing drums similar to the Fleet Foxes.


REVIEWED BY SAM HOUGHTON
SAM'S 3 FAVORITE TRACKS: "Lisbon" • "Coming Home" • "Fast Asleep"
You can read more from Sam on Knocksfromtheunderground.com

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