Sunday 11.30.08: BLITZEN TRAPPER / THE PARSON RED HEADS @ the echo

Blitzen Trapper || Listen || Watch

Like their 2007 debut, Wild Mountain Nation, this latest disc by these semibearded indie rockers was recorded in a telegraph-building-turned-studio in their home base of Portland, Oregon. With the Willamette River nearby, Blitzen Trapper channeled their love of nature — as well as an apparent love for Pavement, Neil Young and various forgotten bands from Nuggets collections. The result is an engaging album full of rootsy beauty: gorgeous, wilderness-wandering ballads like “Stolen Shoes & a Rifle” offer all the benefits of a great pastoral folk-rock record, but Blitzen also toss in ragged guitars, cheap keyboards and mildly weird psych rock on jams such as “Fire and Fast Bullets.” Meanwhile, frontman Eric Earley spins vivid backwoods stories that would play well around a campfire: “Black River Killer” is a creepy vignette about a murderous cowboy, and on the title track, Earley imagines wandering into the forest, watching his flesh turn into fur, and communing with a pack of wolves. Throughout the album, Blitzen keep their songs highly tuneful, making Furr a breakthrough worthy of toasting with a microbrew, or several. – Rolling Stone

with:
The Parson Red Heads || Listen