the Rural Alberta Advantage’s Hometowns
Like a fair number of bands I write about these days, this may not come as a surprise, as I’ve been obsessed, twittered twice and put them on a mixtape, but I thought I should write a bit more about Toronto’s the Rural Alberta Advantage (myspace).
press photo by Vince Wong
The RAA is a trio lead by Paul Banwatt Nils Edenloff and employing his sometimes strained, sometimes relaxed vocals, along with drums, cello, guitars, keyboards and probably some other instruments. After hearing “Don’t Haunt this Place” and a few other songs, I quickly ordered their first full album, Hometowns. Since receiving it, it’s been heavy rotation.
That song is addictive and catchy and generally magnificent. Drums that are tight and interesting, cello, great melodies and harmonies.
the Rural Alberta Advantage - Don’t Haunt this Place (mp3)
But as great as that song is, I was surprised that the album is greater than the sum of the parts. It’s not often that I hear albums–as opposed to collections of songs–anymore, but here’s one. The songs range from subdued to agitated, the instrumentation and tone from folk to rock.
But I’m asking myself how does it get from that to an album, and a really good one at that? I’m not sure, to be honest. The eclectic feel makes the album pass quickly and suddenly it’s built up from a melancholy mess of song into one piece of art.
Banwatt’s Edenloff’s voice reminds me, at times, of Jeff Mangum’s. I hold Neutral Milk in the highest regard and I take any imitation, intentional or not, with a heavy dose of skepticism. As I said to some people when this album first really caught my ear, though, that this is the first time in a long time that I’ve considered liking a band with a vocals that sounds like Mangum. But this album is too good to discount for reasons like that. Or, really, what I should say is that this album shouldn’t be discounted or compared at all–and if it is compared, it should be to say that the vocals work for some of the same reasons Mangum’s do.
the Rural Alberta Advantage - the Dethbridge in Lethbridge (mp3)
the Rural Alberta Advantage - Sleep All Day (mp3)
You can buy Hometowns directly from the band.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Hi — The RAA is lead by Nils Edenloff. Paul is the drummer. A fantastic one at that. He’s also half of Woodhands and has played in other bands out of Toronto. Hwr, Nils deserves credit for fronting the RAA! He did a cover of a Neutral Milk Hotel song at a NMH cover show recently :-).
I get to see the RAA perform tonight… they are AMAZING live. Even better than the record, I think, which is saying something!
Cheers,
Jen
July 10th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Jen, thanks for the tip. I’ve corrected it in the text now.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I’m not much for indie rock really but I saw these guys at the Velvet Elvis in Oshawa a while back and instantly loved them, even bought the EP they were selling that night (album before Hometowns). Great stuff, hope to see them again!