Don’t mean for this to turn into an alt-country rant, I’ll try and dig up some mellow electro-shoegaze very soon. Despite the obvious name reference, American Aquarium has more of a classic country/honky-tonk feel that makes it hard to believe they played a few dates with Against Me! Fronted by a piano this is a mellow Uncle Tupelo, but some gruffer vocals puts the “alt” and Lucero references in play. No matter, the Raleigh band is playing a ton of shows in Georgia, Florida and even hitting the no man’s land of touring groups: Mississippi and Alabama. Video of “Louisiana Beauty Queen” and tour dates after the jump:
Magnetwrites up a piece about Matthew Houck and his band Phosphorescent. He’s releasing an album of Willie Nelson covers. This confirms the rumblings I’ve heard of Americana bands in Brooklyn. Good interview, though. The best: “I think doing cover songs is a way to sort of just play, and not worry so much about an artistic statement or anything like that. Just enjoying playing music, you know?”-Matthew Houck in Magnet
…Nashville punk that sidles the genres of alt-country and rockabilly along with it. They’re definitely fronting the rockabilly greaser hair, but with a twang like The Wednesdays and probably countless other bands that I don’t know. It seems like that alt-country/Americana is still a fertile ground for hybridization and doesn’t seem to be tiring for the time being. Plus, the evocative name kind of shows that off–its outlaw with a sense of respect.
This Memphis band has been blowing up–recently featured in Paste magazine, and my own review in Bootleg Magazine. The earthiness of what people expect from alt-country, or just returning the rootsy flavor back to country.
Unfortunately this is just a short promo video from their self-titled album, but still provides a flavor of who they are.
