Artist: Blitzen Trapper
Album: All Across This Land
Bitrate: 252kbps avg
Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz
Label: Lojinx
Genre: Rock
Size: 74.61 megs
PlayTime: 0h 39min 21sec total
Rip Date: 2015-10-10
Store Date: 2015-10-02
Track List:
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01. All Across This Land 3:54
02. Rock And Roll (Was Made For 3:47
You)
03. Mystery And Wonder 4:04
04. Love Grow Cold 3:39
05. Lonesome Angel 3:43
06. Nights Were Made For Love 3:54
07. Cadillac Road 4:35
08. Let The Cards Fall 3:31
09. Even If You Don't 3:32
10. Across The River 4:42
Release Notes:
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Over the course of 15 years and seven full-length albums, Blitzen Trapper has
crafted one of the more compelling and varied catalogs in contemporary rock and
roll. Indeed, singer and guitarist Eric Earley, who is also the Portland,
Oregon-based bandÆs primary songwriter, is possessed of a musical and lyrical
sensibility that is remarkably deep and wide; big ideas and universal emotions
are wrung from the seemingly plainspoken details of small-screen and often
highly personal stories, and set to music that reaches way, way back to
old-timey folk and bluegrass, travels through everything from country,
psychedelia and soul to prog, garage and metal, indulges gloriously in the
classic rock of the 70s and 80s, and makes occasional side trips into hip-hop,
skewed pop and noisey freakouts.
Even while continuing to explore broad stylistic territory, Blitzen TrapperÆs
eighth studio album, a 10-song collection titled All Across This Land, stands as
an exceptionally focused and immediate effort. Though it follows 2013Æs somewhat
experimental VII, a futuristic hip-hop/country-rock hybrid, All Across This
Land, in contrast, is a top-down, tightly defined piece of classic rock and
roll, full of big riffs, bigger hooks and compelling, instantly relatable
lyrics. In sound and scope it recalls two of the bandÆs more beloved albums,
2008Æs breakthrough fourth effort, Furr, and 2011Æs landmark American Goldwing.
ôI think itÆs a return to the sort of more æclassicÆ Blitzen Trapper thing, for
sure,ö Earley says.
It also follows something of a pattern. ôIt seems to be that every other album
goes this way,ö Earley continues. ôAfter Furr we did [2010Æs] Destroyer of the
Void, where we were exploring all these different things. Then came American
Goldwing. After that, VII. Now weÆre back to that rock thing again.ö
Something else All Across This Land shares with Furr and American Goldwing: the
fact that these new songs came quick, and in a very concentrated period of time.
ôThose two albums, I wrote all the songs at once and they all hang together. But
the records that came in between, they were written over the course of a
year-and-a-half or so,ö Earley says. For All Across This Land, he continues, ôI
had all the songs written and demoed in a three or four month span. And I think
they work together because everything came in such a short period.ö
And yet, for a record characterized by its focus, there is still plenty of
musical and lyrical ground covered within its ten songs. Gentle, almost folksy
momentsùthe lilting, pedal steel-inflected ôLove Grow Coldö; the fingerpicked
closer ôAcross the Riverö; the acoustic-guitar-and-harmonica-led ôLonesome
Angelöùabound, even if, for the most part, All Across This Land is defined by
its more upbeat rock-and-roll numbers. To that end, Earley says itÆs the record
that perhaps best represents what Blitzen Trapper is as a live act. ôItÆs funny,
because I think with this band, thereÆs two different ways people see us,ö he
says. ôPeople who just hear the music somewhere, they tend to think of us as
this, like, indie-folk act. But people who come to the shows know that weÆre
actually a hard rock band. And who knows? Maybe all that some people really want
from us is folk music. But what we like to do is play rock music.ö
On All Across This Land, they certainly do. The album kicks off with ôAll Across
This Land,ö a slice of sun-drenched rock propelled by a stabbing and syncopated
guitar riff and full-voiced chords, accented by some euphoric ôhoo hooö backing
vocals. When EarleyÆs vocal enters, itÆs with a greeting of sorts: ôWelcome to
earth my son youÆre here just in time / So much to learn so many ways you can
shine.ö The song is, at its core, a celebration of life, in particular of one
that is just beginning. ôOne of the members of our band, Mike [Van Pelt] had
just had his second boy, and I was thinking a lot about that,ö Earley says. From
there, he also began to look back on his relationship with his own father, a
bluegrass and folk musician. ôI was remembering how my father taught me to play
music, ThereÆs just so much potential in that relationship you have with a new
life.ö
From here, the record moves into ôRock and Roll Was Made for You,ö another
celebration of sorts, this one for music itself. Over a driving, percussive
guitar riff, Earley testifies about its sometimes otherworldly powers: ôRock and
roll gonna make you shout / ItÆs for shooting down planes after blacking out.ö
Music also serves as the inspiration behind the recordÆs third track, the
pulsing and atmospheric ôMystery and Wonder.ö ôIn a lot of ways this one is me
reminiscing about the songs IÆve written in the past and my reasons for writing
them,ö Earley says. ôAnd it also looks at how we got into playing music as a
band. Because we all came from much smaller places and then we moved to the
city, which was Portland. Now, Portland isnÆt really that big a place, but to us
it was. And thatÆs where it all started.ö Another cut, ôNights Were Made For
Loveö finds Earley examining his life and band from a more nostalgic
perspective. Over a quick-paced but laidback country-rock rhythm, he sings about
being ôstupid, strange and young at heart / and all we wanted was to rock and
roll.ö ôItÆs looking back at our high school daysùgoing to football games,
playing music,ö he says. ôIn certain ways, itÆs sort of the story of the journey
of our band.ö
EarleyÆs childhood comes into play in a much different way on the dark and
driving ôCadillac Road.ö ôThat song is about a small mill town in the mountains
outside of where we all grew up,ö the singer explains. ôAround æ83 or Æ84, they
shut down the mill and everyone was told to pack up and leave. And everyone
didùbut one guy stayed. People said he lived in the woods, and that if you
listened you could hear him at night. It was this odd story that stuck with me,
and I felt like I should tell that story.ö But in telling the tale of one man,
Earley manages to touch on much larger themes of loss, regret and perseverance
in the face of a shifting American landscape. ôGotta change with the times,ö he
sings at one point, ôbut I donÆt have the heart.ö
The album ends with another big statement, ôAcross the River,ö a rumination on
life and death that Earley sees as something of a bookend to opener ôAll Across
This Land.ö ôI feel like they tie in together, because the first song is about
new life, and the last one is almost a near-death experience,ö he says. ôIÆm
crossing a river to another place thatÆs something like the afterlifeùitÆs
heaven, but itÆs not. And then my father shows up and he says, æYouÆre not
supposed to be here yet. YouÆve got more stuff to do.Æ ö
EarleyÆs father comes up often in the context of his lyrics, which is
understandableùthe elder Earley has cast a long shadow over his sonÆs musical
life. ôMy dad and my grandfather both played instrumentsùguitars, banjosàmy
grandfather was a harmonica virtuoso,ö Earley says. ôSo there was a lot of music
around me as a child. And it was old-timey stuff. Like mountain musicùthe kinds
of songs where no one knows who wrote them, basically.ö
EarleyÆs childhood was so rooted in this music that he didnÆt get turned on to
rock and roll until much later, when he was already in high school. ôSo to me,ö
he says, ôthe 80s is kind of my foundation for rock. A lot of my influence is
from the Replacements, R.E.M., that kind of stuff. Even Pavement in the early
90s.ö As a result, on All Across This Land, ôwhen IÆm thinking of rock and roll,
IÆm thinking of Paul Westerberg, to be honest,ö Earley admits with a laugh. In
addition to Westerberg, he also cites Joe Walsh as one of his main rock
influences: ôHeÆs always been one of my favorite guitar players, and you can
hear it on the album. The riffs and chords on æAll Across This Land,Æ thatÆs
straight from Joe Walsh.ö
That love of a particular type of rock and roll helped guide Blitzen TrapperÆs
approach on All Across This Land. ôWe recorded it specifically to be a two
guitar, bass, drums and piano record,ö Earley says. ôEvery song is a band song,
and arranged just how weÆd play it onstage. Because at this point, weÆve made
tons of records and weÆve played tons of shows. And the people who come out to
see us, they understand what weÆre doing and they donÆt care about genres or
anything like that. TheyÆre more interested in our actual specific unique
personality as a band.ö
As for what that specific personality is? ôI think thereÆs two kinds of songs I
love to write,ö Earley says. ôI love songs that rock hard and that just make you
feel good, and then I love songs that are sad and introspective and touch you in
a very deep place.ö
Which, in essence, is exactly what Blitzen Trapper puts forth on All Across This
Land. ôI was trying to distill everything down to those two things,ö Earley
explains. And if, in doing so, the band happens to pick up a host of different
sounds and styles along the way, so be it. ôWeÆre never going to be a band that
plays the same song over and over again,ö he says. ôWe like to explore. And
sometimes thatÆs not so easy for people to deal with. But weÆre going to just
keep on doing what we do.ö