Elliott Brood - ‘Mountain Meadows’ (album review)
From the opening track ‘Fingers and Tongues’ you know automatically that you are onto a good thing when you listen to the new release ‘Mountain Meadows’ as a follow-up to the Juno-nominated (Canadian Grammy) ‘Ambassador’ by Elliott Brood.
The UK’s The Sun newspaper who recently reviewed the new CD claimed, “ It’s bleak. It’s black. It’s brilliant.” And for the first time ever I actually agreed with something that The Sun newspaper had to say.
Elliott Brood is another Canadian hard alt-country import, whose music is infused with the hard stomping beats and strong guitar riffs that portray another side of the Canadian Diaspora and its gift for lyrical storytelling. The lead singer’s voice takes us on a Wild West journey up through the mountains and down through the valley and closer to the mountain meadows than we have ever been before.
Here we experience Garden River, The Valley, Chuckwagon and Miss You Now, which are just some of the standout tracks on the new album (although W.I.A.D.F.Y is most definitely my favorite track). Each song has its own distinctive and unforgettable story and theme, and each, in my opinion, is worthy of its own individual praise. For me, to list the entire track order would just be ridiculous – you’ll just have to listen to the CD yourselves to catch strong mountain breeze that you feel when you listen to their music.
Elliott Brood are Mark Sasso (lead vocals, guitar, banjo, ukulele), Stephen Pitkin (suitcases, percussion, vocals) and Casey Laforet (guitar, vocals, bass pedals).
‘Mountain Meadows’, by far, is musically and lyrically one of the best Indie albums that I have heard this year.
"Over the past year and a bit in our travels we've found ourselves in some interesting places… We chose to record in cabins, old town halls, front rooms and back rooms of houses and in good old recording studios, waiting and allowing those special moments to happen."
- Elliott Brood
By Cheryl Hoar
Release Date:
Label: Six Shooter
www.elliottbrood.ca
www.myspace.com/elliottbrood
