The grittily melodic, noise-streaked Philly indie band A Country Western are back today with news of Audition Tape, a new album out next month. The sessions included some work with producer Dan Angel, who also helped out with Lotto by former A Country Western split partners They Are Gutting A Body Of Water. So far, I like what I'm hearing.
Lead single "Blood Eagle" is a compulsively listenable two-minute shoegaze track that sounds like calmly speeding through sludge. It was reportedly Erik Hilbert's attempt to write a song that "slams" like the work of his bandmate Garrett Miades. More on that from Hilbert:
I was mostly inspired by the brutality of “Halo Mode" [song on Audition Tape]. Garrett has a propensity for writing indie rock songs that absolutely slam. The demo existed without lyrics until we started recording it with Dan [Angel]. The lyrics are just kind of a collection of words I felt made a vignette that conjured the same doom and gloom as Beowulf, which I had been writing poems about all that week.
Listen below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "45 Degrees"
02 "Audition"
03 "Blood Eagle"
04 "Not Far Enough"
05 "I Found"
06 "Mourning Dove"
07 "Wider"
08 "No Alcohol"
09 "Halo Mode"
10 "The Energy"
11 "Baseball Game"
12 "Redemption Inner Circle (Solvent OS Remix)"
Audition Tape is out 10/21 on Crafted Sounds. Pre-order it here.
