Ode to Sunshine (CD - 2007)

The Delta Spirit's 2008 debut album, ODE TO SUNSHINE, was released on esteemed roots label Rounder Records. And while the band doesn't exactly evoke the traditional Americana threads on which Rounder built its reputation, there is something decidedly honest and soulful about Delta Spirit's music. Piano-driven tunes such as "Trashcan" and "Strange Vine" evoke a slightly rawer My Morning Jacket or a dustier Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, while "Bleeding Bells" and "People, Turn Around" have a bittersweet ache that recalls Jeff Tweedy at his most desperate-sounding. It's contemporary references like these that ultimately make Delta Spirit intriguing, for though the inspirations that the band's name evoke are powerful, they are far from the only ones that have played a part in their sound.

You can take the boy out of the emo but you can't take the emo out of the boy as Delta Spirit shows on its debut for the Americana oriented Rounder label. The ex-Noise Ratchet founders shift to more rootsy territory with their new band, yielding impressive results. Call it indie folk or anti-folk, there is no doubt about similarities to the Violent Femmes and especially the Waterboys, both in the predominantly acoustic instrumentation and Matt Vasquez's vocals. The album was recorded in a cabin in Julian, CA and perhaps the surroundings brought a raw, rootsy, almost Basement Tapes-styled feel to the stripped down songs and production. Opening slots for Dr. Dog and Cold War Kids established the quintet's punk/Americana credibility but this is more a ragged, emotionally charged yet skewed folk album than anything the bands they toured with churn out. There are elements of older Gomez here as well, especially concerning the members' multiple talents on various instruments and a strong sense of dynamics in the quietly surging, primitive percussion that drives "Children." The closing waltz-time title track feels like a cover of an old traditional, but like the rest of the songs, it is an original that hews to the style of an earlier time and place where the word "emo" was as foreign a concept as electricity. There are instances when this feels a little adrift and not all the songs resonate, but when they lock into a groove and a retro pop melody such as on "Strange Vine" or the following "Streetwalker," it meshes in an effortless, timeless, and intoxicating brew that shows the band's unique direction and future promise. ~ Hal Horowitz minimize