Artist: The Band Of Heathens
Album: Duende
Bitrate: 252kbps avg
Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz
Label: Blue Rose Records
Genre: Rock
Size: 74.24 megs
PlayTime: 0h 39min 02sec total
Rip Date: 2017-01-21
Store Date: 2017-01-13
Track List:
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01. All I'm Asking 3:50
02. Sugar Queen 4:23
03. Last Minute Man 3:57
04. Deep Is Love 3:48
05. Keys To The Kingdom 3:21
06. Trouble Came Early 4:43
07. Daddy Longlegs 3:22
08. Cracking The Code 4:30
09. Road Dust Wheels 3:55
10. Green Grass Of California 3:13
Release Notes:
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duende û [duen-de] (noun) 1. a quality of inspiration and passion 2. A
heightened sense of emotion, expression and authenticity 3. a spirit
Duende, the title of The Band of HeathensÆ fifth studio album (and eighth
overall), marks their tenth anniversary as a group, and it certainly applies to
its overall theme about the collective search for connection and communion in a
technology-fueled world increasingly splintered, distracted and lonely. As band
co-founder Ed Jurdi, who first learned of the term, explains, ôItÆs the essence
of the artist,ö or as partner Gordy Quist says, ôItÆs a word we donÆt have an
equivalent for in English, Artistically, thatÆs where we tried to set the bar,
to do what this band does best.ö
Indeed, Duende lives up to those high ideals, a stylistically diverse effort
that takes a leap beyond their last, more acoustic, introspective effort, 2013's
Sunday Morning Record, with an eclectic batch of material that shows where The
Band of Heathens has been, but more importantly, where they are going.
There are high-energy rockers like the Keith Richards-Chuck Berry guitars and
barrelhouse piano in ôTrouble Came Earlyö as well as the Grateful Dead-by-way-of
J.J. Cale Oklahoma boogie in ôKeys to the Kingdom,ö and the New Riders pedal
steel country twang of ôGreen Grass of California,ö an ode to the more potent
strains of sensimilla on the dispensary shelf and a fervent plea to ôlegalize
it.ö
Duende also touches on some of The Band of HeathensÆ favorite topics, from the
sacrifices of a life lived on the road (ôAll IÆm Askingö) to the limits of
materialism (ôKeys to the Kingdomö), social media absorption (ôCracking the
Codeö), and a moving depiction of Mexican immigration in an age of increased
discrimination (ôRoad Dust Wheelsö).
Thematically, QuistÆs ôCracking the Codeö comes closest to reiterating the
albumÆs desire to reconsider the value of relationships and priorities in a
world of virtual reality and social media. ôWhile modern technology has
certainly allowed us to stay in touch over vast distances û something a band
that lives on the road certainly appreciates û it doesnÆt really provide the
authentic connection we crave,ö says Gordy. ôWeÆve created a portal through
which we lose ourselves and miss whatÆs really going on right in front of us,
hiding the fact our supposed connected culture can be a really lonely place.ö
ôI feel the album brings together all our influences, everything weÆve done over
the years as a band,ö explains Jurdi. ôWeÆve touched on every part of our
careerà our roots, some singer/songwriter contemplative stuff, some high-energy
rock ænÆ roll. ItÆs all us, the record we were supposed to make. Ten years
later, thatÆs what keeps us coming back.ö
Engineer/co-producer Jim Vollentine (Spoon, White Rabbits, àAnd YouÆll Know Us
by the Trail of Dead) helped the albumÆs diversity sound coherent, adding unique
touches such as mellotron and drum machines to the loping rockabilly of tracks
like ôAll IÆm Asking.ö
The term ôAmericanaö was practically invented to describe The Band of HeathensÆ
approach, which has mutated almost as much as the genre to which theyÆre
identified. And while the Rolling Stones and The Beatles remain touchstones on
songs like ôSugar Queenö and ôDeep Is Love,ö respectively, influences as diverse
as Sly and the Family Stone (in the psychedelic fuzz-tones of ôDaddy Long Legsö)
and Latin music (ôRoad Dust Wheelsö) also rear their heads. Literary
inspirations also come into play, ranging from a character in Sylvia PlathÆs The
Bell Jar depicted in as a strutting cougar in ôSugar Queenö (ôShe even talks
dirty/When sheÆs on her knees to prayö) to Tom StandageÆs A History of the World
in Six Glasses, which recounts how beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and
Coca-Cola have shaped culture and civilization to modern times (ôTrouble Came
Earlyö).
Duende is The Band of Heathens playing to their strengths, unapologetically
constructed as an old-school 10-track, two-sided vinyl album (which it will be
released as, with a second disc encompassing four songs from their Green Grass
EP released earlier this year).
With Duende, the proof is in the results. Let them change your mind.