Release Date: Aug 26, 2008
Genre(s): Indie, Rock, Country
Record label: Rounder
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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, but there's no doubt about the group's similarities to the Violent Femmes and the Waterboys, both in the predominantly acoustic instrumentation and Matt Vasquez's vocals.
As the indie-twanged and rushing waves of Ode to Sunshine’s late-bloomer “Children” fills your ears with the jingle-jangle majesty of its low-key rustle, it would be easy to christen the Delta Spirit’s sonically referential sound as the Violent Femmes gone sepia. Many already have. But the Spirit’s warbly, raw-throat desperation and the pressure-drop swoon of their seasick dynamics sound more like Alec Ounsworth clapping his hands and saying yeah while making Music from Big Pink.
The summer of indie-folk is in full bloom on Delta Spirit's first LP. Self-released late last year and reissued here with an added track for new label Rounder, Ode to Sunshine lives up to its title. Formed in 2005 after the dissolution of emo outfit Noise Ratchet, featuring bassist Jon Jameson and drummer Brandon Young, this San Diego outfit came together with Matthew Vasquez's distinguished voice cutting through the group's cluttered folk-rock.
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