Metuchen, New Jersey expatriates the Roadside Graves are following up 2007's great (and greatly underappreciated) No One Will Know Where You've Been with the epic, amazing 18-track My Son's Home. It has narrative substance (like a door stopper-sized book) and just as many hooks, tons of heart. Or, in other words, and to carry the book metaphor way too far, this one's going to make a lot of noise when it drops. Frontman and educator (and, full disclosure, old friend) John Gleason told me this about the record:
It starts off fairly normal and catchy and begins to get hairy and dark around song five ... ends triumphantly on the last song "Work Itself Out," originally written years back for our friend who was in jail, intended to be an optimistic song, yet he died two years ago, so now it's a fucking bummer song for us. But happy it's going to see the light of day.
It's a song that'll bring tears even if you didn't know the backstory. For now, we're offering up something mournful ("I Carried Myself") and a full-band stomp ("Take A Train").
Roadside Graves - "I Carried Myself" (MP3)
Roadside Graves - "Take A Train" (MP3)
My Son's Home is forthcoming via Autumn Tone. You need to see them live. They're hitting SXSW pretty hard:
02/14 - Jersey City, NJ @ Automata Chino
02/21 - Brooklyn, NY @ The Trash Bar w/ Gutz!
02/28 - New Brunswick, NJ @ the Court Tavern
03/18 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/19 - Austin, TX @ Aquarium Drunkard/MOKB Party (SXSW)
03/19 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/20 - Austin, TX @ Hot Freaks Party (SXSW)
03/20 - Ausitn, TX @ Key Bar (SXSW)
03/20 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/21 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/21 - Lonview, TX @ The West End
04/11 - New York, NY @ Lit Lounge
[Photo by Dave Christopher]
