With the demise of Uncle Tupelo, there were two schools of “New Trouble Country” that emerged. Tupelo’s Jeff Tweedy started Wilco and Jay Farrar started Sun Volt. Wilco went on to incorporate a more avant-garde approach to the alternative country and avoided many of the trappings that kept Sun Volt hemmed in. They eventually transcended the “country” moniker and just became a great pop/rock/alternative band while Son Volt started to sound tired, trite, and a bit adult-contemporary.
Warm in the Wake, an Atlanta-based quartet, has recently released a seven song EP titled Gold Dust Trail. This record also walks that line between sounding fresh, with almost Wilco-ish pop-sensibilities, and coming across as adult contemporary. Their drums are almost ambient, they are so background to the recording, and it sometimes leaks a four-track lo-fi quality. The instrumental interludes on it, however, are dreamy and serene. This is where the more experimental undercurrents of Warm in the Wake reside. Tormented guitars, ala Neil Young, leap off of the canvas of the song, pulling you away from the general drift of their tunes. They are sometimes reminiscent of Explosions in the Sky, until the poppy folk songs re-emerge.
If you are hungry for a new album that can lull you gently and sing you a pretty song, this album works perfectly for that. It is not avant-garde, by any stretch, but it is not boring either. The songs trek along like a landscape. There are a few standout songs that pick the beat up more than others, but none of them are mix tape gems. The album really only works as a whole.
Bands such as My Morning Jacket and Bright Eyes have taken the new country vibe to new heights, linking new music to the classic country sound. In the case of Jack White, even writing and performing with the legends, as he did with Loretta Lynn. Warm in the Wake carries the torch in a more “New Trouble Country” direction, but in a way they redeem the potential of that genre by making it feel more current and less adult-contemporary.
Catch Warm in the Wake live at Jack Rabbits on Thursday, February 8th, and if you enjoy the ride you can pick up Gold Dust Trail at the show.
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