Nicknames and Natives reminds me of things I heard on the school ground, which helps explain the familiarity of the Antiques debut album. The songs are littered with influences from years past, but the band uses a plethora of styles to escape too many comparisons.

Whether meandering through country-folk tracks like Dawn, or trying their hand at White Stripes-esque (while this song is enjoyable, and certain people are dropping the name in the sounds like game, don’t be fooled – these guys aren’t a blues power quartet) blues on Pigless, the combination is refreshing. I’ve said it before, I’m sick of the synth riffs and quirky pop that is getting created these days, and I’ve retreated back to the more classic styles of Neil Young, Dylan and (for the youngens) early Wilco. The Antiques seem to be drawing on the same influences and rediscovering 70’s rock without abandoning 60’s pop.

The band finds its stride on the summery style ditties like Dawn and Gun Shy. The drawl of Joey’s voice and the powerful harmonica set the tone, while the delicate harmonies and the subtle touches (like the xylophone that resonates in the distance, or the perfect lap steel on Stars are Out the Attic) add the needed backing to strengthen the effort. It’s interesting to hear him sing, “you and I keep making this hard,” when then band is making it seem so simple.

One thing I noticed is that at times, the sound seems slightly overproduced (which is weird because the material coming out of Tiny Telephones always manages to straddle the blend of rawness and production perfectly) and the band seems to get slightly lost (on Dead Ringer), but the quality of the majority of the work is undisputable.

Check out two tracks::
MP3:: Pigless
MP3:: Gun Shy

 Posted by ack on Wednesday, September 13, 2006 at 2:49 PM
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