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Two Gallants: Saddle Creek

An unhappy marriage of sounds
Rating: 1.5 stars
October 3, 2007 4:31:29 PM
inside_TWO-GALLANTS
Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel have long been trying for a sound that’s both earthy and artsy, Bright Eyes folk rock delivered with an aw-shucks squint. So far — on two full-lengths and a pair of EPs — the results have been underwhelming. That trend continues on this homonymous disc. The good songs — the bitter “The Hand That Held Me Down” and the driving “Despite What You’ve Been Told” — work because their fast tempos match Stephens’s strong, razor-like voice. When he sings, “The heights to which you drag me/Just to hurl your scorn,” he spits the words. But on songs with a laid-back, solemn feel — the plodding “Ribbons Round My Tongue,” the hymn-like “Fly Low Carrion Crow” — that acidic delivery is distracting. Until Two Gallants find a way to marry their two sounds — one shrill and pointed, the other dull and blunt — we’ll just have to settle for Conor Oberst.

Two Gallants + Blitzen Trapper + Songs For Mom | Middle East Upstairs, 472-480 Mass Ave, Cambridge | October 5 | 617.854.EAST
COMMENTS

wow. could not disagree more. i think carrion crow is just as intense as "hand.." or "despite.." 'they call us sick as if they're all so sane'... 'for the things i've seen no one else should know' -- how else are you supposed to sing words like that but acidic? he is singing to the crow that is going to eat him alive. i think you missed the mark on this one. anyway, i'm sure you miss your killers and panic at the disco, so don't let me stop you...

POSTED BY stayfly AT 10/05/07 12:14 PM

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