Jefferson at Rest (CD)
On this third album by Early Day Miners, the band set out to make what they referred to as "a rock record,"
one with shorter, succinctly-structured songs,to be recorded mostly live at principle songwriter Daniel Burton's studio in Bloomington, Indiana. They did, in fact, accomplish each of their established criteria. It's interesting,
though, how different folks interpret the term "rock." The album does indeed take Early Day Miners one step further in the rock direction. Burton's vocals
are still hushed,yet ever more confident. Song structures are more concrete ?- the sprawling soundscapes of past
releases foregone for a more pop feel. "Jefferson At Rest"'s lyrical imagery evokes a post-Civil War-era American South and, more specifically, New Orleans landscape.
| Tracklisting | |
| Disk | 1 | |
| 1 | Wheeling |
| 2 | New Holland |
| 3 | Jefferson |
| 4 | McCalla |
| 5 | Awake |
| 6 | Into Pines |
| 7 | Cotillion |
| andy round
- rock island, IL, usa |
| Early Day Miners have tightened the screws on their approach a little since their last full length, Let Us Garlands Bring. The songs here have a slightly more taut and focused feel to them, as opposed to the bloated feeling the songs of the former album had. ?Wheeling? is a good example of this focus. Though it is still five minutes long, it doesn?t feel long. It glides by with an ease that the band has not known for some time. The warm, rolling distortion of this song is inviting and a testament to Dan Burton?s continuously improving production skills. The excellence of ?Wheeling? is fully realized when the drums cut loose after the verses, taking the guitars along with them.
?Jefferson? and ?Awake? are two of the strongest tracks on the album. Rory Leitch deserves some attention for his smart and creative drumming on these songs. About 40 seconds into ?Jefferson,? he launches into a drum pattern that has some great high hat work. Leitch seems to have a good sense of restraint while simultaneously strengthening the songs with interesting little flourishes like the cymbal bell hit at the beginning of ?Awake.? This particular song sloughs off its restraint, however, at about the five minute mark with a powerful rolling snare/distorted guitars ending. Another thing that Burton does well is adding texture with an acoustic guitar track placed under the distorted guitars. The scraping of the pick against the strings is usually the only audible component to this acoustic track, but it adds to the rhythm and the skeletal structure of the songs. The climatic ending of ?Awake? demonstrates a good use of this technique.
This is not to say that Jefferson at Rest does not have its weak moments. ?McCalla? begins with an annoyingly wet-sounding programmed beat, and Burton?s vocals are a little too naked and up front here for comfort. In fact, Burton?s sometimes atonal vocals throughout the album may be a stumbling block for some listeners, but most will probably find them rather innocuous and unassuming. Weaknesses aside, Jefferson at Rest is a strong effort and patient listeners will find it to be a rewarding group of songs. | |
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