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- Date Released: May 20, 2008
- Genre: Country/Folk
- Style: Alt-Country
- Label: Big Book Records / IODA
A drowsily melodic California country foursome with a serious natural science jones.
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We Say...
On the first few songs their fourth album, this drowsily melodic California country foursome focus on wonders of natural science like no band since Fruit Bats eulogized mammoths and dodos on their obscure 2001 collection Echolocation. Opener “Carbon Dated Love” is recited from the point of view of a paleontologist mooning over his favorite fossil fern; then the next song combines mentions of bears and buffalos with some weird wah-wah; then there’s one where the botanists battle the astrophysicists.
The record gets more diffuse from there, though tracks like the backyard-teepee tale “Ever Since the Grid Went Down” and the high school ecology club ode “Environmental Children of the Future” partake in an existentially green ethos that the Holy Modal Rounders, say, might find humor in.
Rob Waller’s sturdy baritone can get monotonous, but also approaches a sort of Gordon Lightfoot gravity in its lowest register; when the rhythm encompasses Celtic sea-chantey or Tex-Mex clippity-clop or fiddle jigging or Blonde on Blonde boogie, he holds his own. And even when the supposedly “psychedelic” tunes turn sleepy, which is at least half the time, it’s the kind of sleepiness that conjures bed-rolls on the bare desert ground. -
They Say...
The politically and socially-themed country rock & roll of I See Hawks in L.A. continues on its 2008 album Hallowed Ground, whose back cover shot of a wilted group of flowers against an out of focus Los Angeles skyline sums up the sentiments about trying to keep it all together in a harsh series of environments. If a listener's reaction to songs with fairly direct messages like "Carbon Dated Love" and "Environmental Children of the Future" will definitely vary person to person, there's no question that the quartet has the kind of easygoing but sprightly sound down that defines what 21st century roots music that isn't afraid of modern recording technology sounds like, whether it means the crackle of feedback or simply an appreciation for clear sound. The full-bodied rhythm snarls on songs like "Keep It in a Bottle" have a punch that keeps things from simply being a museum piece. Sometimes the elaborate constructions of the lyrical references that Rob Waller and Paul Lacques conjure up are downright dazzling, as with the conflation of religious and scientific imagery on "In the Garden," but just as often the best pleasures come with the subtle musical touches as the descending musical break before the third verse of "Yolo County Airport," which rivals prime Cheap Trick. Other touches like Dave Markowitz's lovely fiddle work on "Pale and Troubled Race," the wonderful ballad towards the end of the album, and Richie Lawrence's merry accordion on the concluding "Good and Foolish Times," a wry, bemusing finale, help give Hallowed Ground its enjoyable spark.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Carbon Dated Love |
3:50 |  |
| 02. | |
Keep It In a Bottle |
5:06 | |
| 03. | |
In the Garden |
3:14 | |
| 04. | |
Yolo Country Airport |
4:49 | |
| 05. | |
Highway Down |
5:14 | |
| 06. | |
Hallowed Ground |
4:24 | |
| 07. | |
Environmental Children of the Future |
4:48 | |
| 08. | |
Ever Since the Grid Went Down |
4:33 | |
| 09. | |
Pale and Troubled Race |
5:12 | |
| 10. | |
The Salty Sea |
4:19 | |
| 11. | |
Gettin Home Tonight |
5:12 | |
| 12. | |
Open Door |
3:28 | |
| 13. | |
Never Alive |
4:42 | |
| 14. | |
Good and Foolish Times |
3:33 | |
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Credits
- Richie Lawrence - Piano // Richie Lawrence - Accordion // Dave Markowitz - Fiddle // Paul Marshall - Bass // Paul Marshall - Vocals // Paul Marshall - Group Member // Paul Lacques - Guitar // Paul Lacques - Vocals // Paul Lacques - Producer // Paul Lacques - Engineer // Paul Lacques - Bodhran // Paul Lacques - Cover Lettering // Paul Lacques - Group Member // Dave Zirbel - Pedal Steel // Rick Shea - Guitar (Acoustic) // Ethan Allen - Percussion // Ethan Allen - Mixing // Shawn Nourse - Percussion // Shawn Nourse - Drums // Shawn Nourse - Engineer // Shawn Nourse - Group Member // Gabe Witcher - Fiddle // Andy Takakjian - Design // Andy Takakjian - Layout Design // John "The Groover" McDuffie - Pedal Steel // Marc Doten - Organ (Hammond) // Bruce Barielle - Mastering
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