by Ben Resnik

I am obsessed with Jeff Mangum.

I search out every crumb and kernel of information about the man I can find, and even have a saved search on Twitter dedicated to him and Neutral Milk Hotel. While few things turn up on that search besides “Jeff Mangum is great” and, more recently, “OH MAH GAWD HE’S BACK!!11!1!,” every now and then something interesting appears. One such thing I found was a snippet of a Twitter conversation in which a band called The Rural Alberta Advantage was compared to Jeff Mangum. Skeptical, I got myself a copy of their 2009 release Hometowns.

While it was no Aeroplane, after listening to Hometowns I had high expectations for the Canadian pseudo-folk group. I got a vibe similar to the one I feel with Neutral Milk Hotel’s first album, On Avery Island; it was not perfect by any means, but set the stage for future greatness well within the band’s capabilities. Now the RAA has released its second album, Departing, to slightly underwhelming reviews (read Mike’s here). The consensus is that the release is a plateau for the band. While it is not a poor release by any means, it doesn’t take the risks that would catapult lead singer Nils Edenloff and his band from modest success to indie-rock stardom. And to better understand why, perhaps now is the time to look again to Hometowns for clues about where the Advantage could and should be going.

The opener, “The Ballad of the RAA”, feels like the band’s native element. The lyrics are given the attentively polished characteristic of folk songs, even as the sound wraps itself in a warm blanket of synth pads. To top off is Paul Banwatt’s mood-setting drumming, which feels technically miles ahead of the other instrumentation. The disparity manages to work to the band’s advantage, and this is where the Neutral Milk Hotel comparisons are most accurate; Jeremy Barnes was a virtuoso drummer, which allowed the other members to explore an astute musical passion for melody while resting on a solid foundation of technical skill. The same is true here. The merits of Edenloff’s off-key yelping and the simple instrumentation are made acceptable and appreciable when balanced against Banwatt’s powerhouse drumming.

The high point of the album is the heart-wrenching “Don’t Haunt This Place.” Edenloff’s songwriting is at its most poignant, with lyrics like “And the things we never had, and the things we wish would come back/ Because we need this oh so bad, because I need this oh so bad.” The drums keep punching, and the instrumentals lend a perfect backdrop to the song’s vivid emotion. Best of all, it is repetitive in all the right ways. The RAA have gotten some flak for being repetitive, especially since Departing. But on songs like this, that repetition is an integral part, and magnifies its power instead of diminishing it.

That being said, repetition – both of lyric and of structure – is the Advantage’s major flaw, and can be seen in any number of songs on either album. The band has found something it’s good at and is sticking with it. It is first seen on “The Dethbridge to Lethbridge”, which is done very well; the vocals are strong, the lyrics are solid, and the dominant drums and simple guitar gives it the feel of a head-bobbing indie-rock standard. But then it continues. “The Deadroads,” “Drain the Blood,” “Luciana;”  are all all solid songs, but grow pale over time due to their lack of variance among the subject matter; the fact that they play successively does not help. On this their debut album, and even on Departing, the songs work well, but it’s setting a bad precedent. Critics not pushing them to explore their subject and style have made the RAA a little too comfortable with what they’ve got.

The closing song, “In the Summertime,” shows what the band is capable of. The drum supports instead of drives, and the focus falls back to where it should be: Edenloff’s vocals, which are as thoughtful and full of insight as anywhere else on the album. One of the pitfalls of any good band is resting on its laurels, and the RAA has been cursed by finding a style it is good at, but not great. Still, the band has the component parts for greatness. Edenloff has a wonderful voice with an amateur appeal, along the lines of Mangum or Kristian Matsson, and the words with which to use it. Departing has gotten the chiding that Hometowns did not, and that any gifted child needs when they don’t do their homework. Now that the Rural Alberta Advantage has been shown it is prone to human mistakes, it can get back to the fresh, powerful articulation of humanity that it is so very capable of.

RIYL: The Mountain Goats, Dan Mangan, R.E.M., The Wooden Sky, Arms, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Frightened Rabbit, The Antlers, Said the Whale, Harlem Shakes, Titus Andronicus, Phoenix, The French Kicks, Plant and Animals, The Weakerthans, Freelance Whales, Blind Pilot, The Acorn

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Don’t Haunt This Place

The Rural Alberta Advantage – The Ballad Of The RAA

The Rural Alberta Advantage – The Dethbridge In Lethbridge

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Edmonton

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The post Second Look: Hometowns appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.

The Rural Alberta Advantage probably appreciate movies like The Deer Hunter, the 1978 classic that depicted the inhabitants of a small, factory-dependent town shortly after the Vietnam War. These portrayals of ex-soldiers/steel workers with deep emotional wounds made for a great film with a top-notch cast that contributed to some of the finest character development I have seen. The Rural Alberta Advantage seem to thrive artistically from circumstances and strong characters like these. The band grew up in small towns around Central and Northern Alberta, never taking for granted the big range of emotions that take place in a small town. They note everything – from the economy’s crushing blow on factory workers to nature’s unavoidable beauty – and do so with tasteful sentimentality and memorable arrangements. Emotionally complex scenarios like these for locals of mountainous terrain seem like the band’s log line of choice; their music follows suit rather appropriately.

While such a description would encourage most to think of gloomy Appalachian folk as the most appropriate backdrop, The Rural Alberta Advantage pursue an unconventional route in capturing such sentiments. There are touches of electronica with washes of synth pads and key-laden melodies, but more dominant are electric guitars and pianos that complement Nils Edenloff’s nasally narrative delivery with precision. Signed to the rather naturalistic Saddle Creek, The Rural Alberta Advantage just barely teeter on the boundaries of folk music. Their plain-spoken lyrical urges and near-transcendentalist sentiments are reminiscent of the genre, but the musical aspects are more rock-driven. Interweaving vocal harmonies between Edenloff and Amy Cole, polished electro-like breakdowns, and reliance on repeating choruses bring to mind a vintage form of ‘90s electro-rock, when musicians were not yet ready to fully embrace aspects of electronic production but occasionally provided interesting doses of synth accompaniments and sample-laden production to keep things interesting.

Toronto-based but self-proclaimed Albertans at heart, The Rural Alberta Advantage were good friends before forming the band. Two-thirds of the trio were somewhat reluctant to enter the music scene after enduring years of classical music forced upon them by their parents, but the prospect of forming a band with your friends and pursuing any style you choose was hard to push aside. They released a promising demo and EP shortly after their formation in 2005, but it was not until their full-length Hometowns in 2008 that Saddle Creek took notice. After acclaim from Spin, Pitchfork, and earning a spot as eMusic’s band of the month for November 2008, Saddle Creek took a chance with the trio and re-released Hometowns in July 2009. That provided them even more exposure, but they were still far from becoming a household Saddle Creek name like Bright Eyes, Cursive, or Tokyo Police Club. Their second album for Saddle Creek, Departing, will be released on March 1st and should lend a helping hand.

The album’s third track, “Under the Knife”, relies predominantly on synth stabs that give Edenloff’s excitably nasally delivery an accommodating backdrop. His vocal style reminds me most of The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle and even R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe at times. Cole’s feminine vocals join Edenloff’s in a duet for the chorus; her cherubic tone keeps up with Edenloff’s nasally croon with surprising competence. I expected the stark contrast to drag the song into muddled disorganization, but Edenloff and Cole play off each other’s deliveries exceptionally well. They are always supported by Paul Banwatt on drums; he seems to be significantly more advanced than both Edenloff and Cole in theory and instrumentation, and his drumming on tracks like the tightly catchy “Stamp” is very noteworthy. The Rural Alberta Advantage’s keys and guitars sometimes sound stiff because the melodies struggle with over-repetition at times, but they are almost always salvaged by an inventive drumming display by Banwatt. The band’s chemistry is best shown through their songwriting, not their instrumental virtuosity (which only Banwatt appears to possess on a noticeable level).

Departing is another nice release from The Rural Alberta Advantage, but lacks the ambition necessary for great recognition. The songs all sound “nice” but occasionally lack depth. “North Star”, for instance, features a few keyboard whole notes scattered around Banwatt’s drums, a trend that repeats for essentially the entire track. The subtle wash of synths when Edenloff bursts out “tonight!” is effective, but the band tends to fear stretching their songs out. A lack of variation among the guitar and keyboard progressions is the unfortunate result. A simple drum shuffle and elongated take on the chorus is all to enjoy here until the last minute, when they finally show substantial melodic range in a romantically triumphant whirlwind of keys and synth-organs. The same can be said for “Muscle Relaxants”, where generic alt-rock riffs carry on until finally a keyboard breakdown in the middle bridge provides some melodic variation; the glimpses of successfully fleeting Brit-pop here are very fun. Moments like these are frustrating though, simply because they show the band’s potential. At this point, it is still something they are chasing.

RIYL: The Mountain Goats, Dan Mangan, R.E.M., The Wooden Sky, Arms, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Frightened Rabbit, The Antlers, Said the Whale, Harlem Shakes, Titus Andronicus, Phoenix, The French Kicks, Plant and Animals, The Weakerthans, Freelance Whales, Blind Pilot, The Acorn

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Stamp

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Tornado ’87

The Rural Alberta Advantage – North Star

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The post The Rural Alberta Advantage appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.