Send "The Rural Alberta Advantage " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Over the course of the past 10 or so years-- from Neutral Milk Hotel to Arcade Fire to Bright Eyes-- winking detachment has ceded an increasing amount of indie rock ground to unmockable earnestness. Next in that line of serious, and seriously emotive, songwriters are the Rural Alberta Advantage. The Toronto-based trio, led by born-and-bred Albertan Nils Edenloff, has created an affecting debut that's full of nostalgic songs about hometowns (hence its title) and heartbreaks, marrying salt-of-the-earth acoustic rock to energetic rhythms and grand orchestral arrangements. Even Edenloff's nasal, impassioned singing and lyricism are practically naked in their straightforward sincerity. Though these tracks may be serious in content and delivery-- "Frank, AB" even nods to the titular mining town's deadly 1903 landslide-- they are buoyed by majestic arrangements. All 13 songs on Hometowns are built on a foundation of quirky synthesizers and sober acoustic guitars, but the drums (which are front-and-center in the mix on so many of these songs) sprint with breathless insistence on "Four Night Rider", some elegant strings add organic warmth to the skittering rhythmic intensity of "Don't Haunt This Place", and the glittery innocence of the acoustic arrangement adds whimsy to the earthy stomp of "Rush Apart". The band's theme song, "The Ballad of the RAA", combines all these elements for a thumping gem of rich, mournful cello, hopeful glockenspiels, bittersweet synths and even a surprising a cappella moment. The lyrics are the plainspoken, wistful longing for the details of small-town life on the prairie. With odes to the night sky as seen from a particular part of Alberta or descriptions of an old apartment, Edenloff mourns for relationships and homes lost or gives voice to the uncertainty one feels when moving on from people or places. Given his reedy tones and preoccupation with the past, it would be easy to compare RAA to Neutral Milk Hotel (the death-haunted lyrics of horn-studded "Luciana" make it the track most easily confused for a lost Jeff Mangum opus). But with more intensely vigorous drumming, more obviously personal lyrics, and a more blatant interest in glossy electro-pop, Edenloff's band carves out their own niche. It is one that masterfully blends the masculine and the feminine, the refined and the coarse, the dark and the bright....full text |
| Cokemachineglow |
| Hometowns was originally self-released last summer to uniformly glowing reviews, but self-marketing, -distribution, and -promotion prevented much from happening for this three-piece beyond the borders of hometown Toronto. For example, when these guys performed in Ottawa last year, it was at a large venue which was empty except for the show’s promoter and a friend of the drummer. On the backs of a Saddle Creek signing, eMusic accolades, and generic blog swell, their most recent show saw them moving to a smaller club and packing it past capacity. Things are going very right for the Rural Alberta Advantage. Feel the hype. Does Hometowns stand up? It’s not so surprising the Rural Alberta Advantage are creating this kind of buzz given the Elephant 6 in the room—the aesthetic similarities to indie-BFF Neutral Milk Hotel are more than conspicuous, and put the band squarely in Rock Plaza Central OMG! NMH-revivalist territory. In fact, it’s curious that so few reviews have noted the stylistic overlap between the two Toronto buzz bands, particularly given the similarity between Rock Plaza Central’s lead warbler Chris Eaton and the Rural Alberta Advantage’s own Nils Edenloff. And like Rock Plaza Central’s terrific Are We Not Horses? (2006), Hometowns‘s juxtaposition of country twang and abrasive bombast—mixed in with the ideas of other Neutral Milk Hotel-revivalists like Beirut and Okkervil River—will certainly satisfy any desires you have for more of the same. I’ll leave the answer to the question “are we still yearning for 1998 in 2009?” up to each of you....full text |
| Avclub |
| The Rural Alberta Advantage begs for Neutral Milk Hotel comparisons—see Paul Banwatt’s nasal shout, or the ubiquitous fuzzed-out acoustic guitar—but they aren’t entirely deserved. That’s certainly no knock: Hometowns, the band’s just-reissued 2008 album, is a well-crafted bit of folk that needn’t stand on the shoulders of giants. Especially the wrong giants. So the opening bars of “Frank, AB” sound a bit like Jeff Mangum’s handiwork, as do those horns on “Luciana.” As a whole, though, Hometowns trades in understated arrangements and empty space. An intricate cymbal line underlies the album-opener, “The Ballad Of The RAA,” while spare interplay between an organ and a couple of drums props up “In The Summertime.” Even a fast-paced song like “Don’t Haunt This Place” eschews guitar, relying instead on clipped drums and mournful strings. Banwatt is a screamer, but his songs are precise, delicate creatures. The Toronto-by-way-of-rural-Alberta band is better understood through its lyrics—atmospheric meditations on small life and love. Apartments grow “lonely and dark,” Edmonton is a “four-night bike ride” away, and love is “unbearably harmful.” These are some of the saddest songs anyone would ever want to sing along to, but they’re all sing-alongs in the mold of the band’s new label, Saddle Creek: forceful and occasional rowdy, but vulnerable all the same....full text |
| Musicomh |
| Word of mouth has always been a powerful weapon, and no more so than in these globalised times. Blogs and social networking have broken many an act over the last couple of years, and Scotland's Broken Records look set to be the next. Formed in 2007, the six-piece first created something of a buzz in their native Edinburgh following some well-received live gigs. This was then followed by a single on the ultra-cool Young Turks label before 4AD added them to their already legendary roster. It's easy to see just why Broken Records have become so talked about. They mix in the best parts of Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, adding in a healthy dollop of Balkan folk and imbuing their big and anthemic sound with an indefinable quality that never fails to make an emotional connection with the listener....full text |
| Spin |
| This Scottish seven-piece pump out audaciously grandiose anthems and bleeding-heart ballads with a fervor that makes U2 seem shy. Such an over-the-top approach could end in solemn self-parody. But Broken Records' refreshing playfulness and surprisingly light touch indicate they're really enjoying themselves -- especially singer Jamie Sutherland, whose outbursts are enhanced by touches of cello, trumpet, and piano. Even when he's proclaiming the end of the world over an explosion of fiddle and martial drums on "Wolves," the lad is more party dude than doomy oracle....full text |
| Guardian |
| Earnestness is the keynote of Broken Records' debut album, an intensity of purpose that threatens to engulf its 10 songs. The seven-piece from Edinburgh seem to be at war on two fronts: to live up to comparisons to Arcade Fire and to distinguish themselves from 2008's much-hyped Scots, the similarly melodramatic Glasvegas....full text |
| Musicomh |
| Word of mouth has always been a powerful weapon, and no more so than in these globalised times. Blogs and social networking have broken many an act over the last couple of years, and Scotland's Broken Records look set to be the next. Formed in 2007, the six-piece first created something of a buzz in their native Edinburgh following some well-received live gigs. This was then followed by a single on the ultra-cool Young Turks label before 4AD added them to their already legendary roster. It's easy to see just why Broken Records have become so talked about. They mix in the best parts of Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, adding in a healthy dollop of Balkan folk and imbuing their big and anthemic sound with an indefinable quality that never fails to make an emotional connection with the listener....full text |
| Spin |
| This Scottish seven-piece pump out audaciously grandiose anthems and bleeding-heart ballads with a fervor that makes U2 seem shy. Such an over-the-top approach could end in solemn self-parody. But Broken Records' refreshing playfulness and surprisingly light touch indicate they're really enjoying themselves -- especially singer Jamie Sutherland, whose outbursts are enhanced by touches of cello, trumpet, and piano. Even when he's proclaiming the end of the world over an explosion of fiddle and martial drums on "Wolves," the lad is more party dude than doomy oracle....full text |
| Guardian |
| Earnestness is the keynote of Broken Records' debut album, an intensity of purpose that threatens to engulf its 10 songs. The seven-piece from Edinburgh seem to be at war on two fronts: to live up to comparisons to Arcade Fire and to distinguish themselves from 2008's much-hyped Scots, the similarly melodramatic Glasvegas....full text |
The Rural Alberta Advantage lyrics
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