In the long-ago days before country music became ‘New Country’, one of the hallmarks of that ol’ American style of music was twang – not just in the instruments, though there was certainly plenty of that, but also in the vocals, heaping with an inflection that didn’t just signify ‘backwoods’, but a life lived in those ‘backwoods’. But then the sound went ultra-mainstream, and became little more than radio-friendly pop-rock sung in a Southern accent with less synthesizers – so the alt-music world picked up the ball and has been running with it ever since. Unfortunately, even the alt-world has been losing some of that twang – witness the more-produced new Band of Horses record (QRO review). Well, keeping that twang in spades is San Francisco’s Winter’s Fall on their third full-length, At All Angles.
You might be thinking, "Twang from San Francisco?", but not only can the twang come from any part of the country (including Canada), but it’s also always had a home in San Fran – The Grateful Dead had twang. Not that Winter’s Fall sounds like The Dead (QRO photos), though there are some jam-pluck times on "Space Canopy In Psychotic Dimension #5" (which doesn’t sound like that title). Instead, Winter’s Fall mixes up-down and moving forward & onward styles, as well as wistful elements ("Anyways" – QRO Video Premiere), swing & sway ("Maybe I Do"), and energy ("In Your Head"). Sometimes the twang can get a bit much (witness how often the word is used in this review…), despite four near-instrumentals on the twelve-track record, including one of the creakiest pieces ever, "Boa Constrictor (Everybody Do The)".
Country thrived on combining authenticity with accessibility, and after it threw out the former to focus solely on the latter, alt-country stepped in. Retaining both in a signature twang is Winter’s Fall on At All Angles.
MP3 Stream: "In Your Head"
