It’s been eleven years since Jeff Mangum and co (Neutral Milk Hotel) released their masterpiece In the Aeroplane, Over the Sea.  Fans have been waiting for Jeff’s triumphant return ever since; yet, other than a few live guest spots, Mangum has kept completely silent.  In some of the press sheets, The Rural Alberta Advantage are said to be the next Neutral Milk Hotel.  Generally this sort of hyperbole squashes my interest, but I decided to give the record a shot anyways.  I’m quite happy I did.

The RAA’s debut album Hometowns is thirteen songs packed full of percussion and the yelping vocals that gave RAA the Neutral Milk Hotel comparison.  The driving element throughout the record are the drums.  During even the slower songs like “Don’t Haunt this Place,” the percussion moves into double time - creating a striking counterpoint to the gentle guitar and vocals.

I love dance music as much as the next person, but it’s nice to hear a jamming acoustic guitar again.  The band recently signed to Saddle Creek, a label that seems to have lost the limelight due to the changing tides of music.  It’s a great fit though, and one that could facilitate more great albums from the Canadian trio.

Grab “Don’t Haunt This Place” here.

Tags: , Neutral Milk Hotel, Rural Aberta Advantage

This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 9:13 am and is filed under mp3, review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.