country falls

husky rescue

minty fresh, 2005

Mood—Sleepy night-time driving music.

Sample: "Summertime Cowboy"

Thoughts— Another win for the Virgin Megastore listening stations. This is one of the more perfect albums that I own. Through and through, it's solid, wonderful, and moving.

I don't know much about the band, and I've realized over the years that sometimes it's best not to know anything other than the music itself. So many reviews talk about everything except the music; reading about the history and personal lives of the musicians only colors what you will eventually hear in their work. I prefer to just listen and create my own world around each album.

This album tells a story, and it's a story you can create for yourself. It ultimately feels very sad, but not hopeless. The tracks are very languid and moodey, the vocals switch between male and female, both having a sort of hollow, slothful demeanor, as if the words are dripping out of the mouths of the singers.

While "The Good Man" is my favorite on the album (it features a dark monologue spoken in a British accent I equate with the 1960s for no real reason... probably because of The Avengers) it isn't indicative of the rest of it. Songs like "Summertime Cowboy" and "Sleep Tight Tiger" feel like they are perfect examples of what Husky Rescue is about, while the opening and closing tracks form a sort of question mark around the entire album with their spare, mellow instrumentation.

While the title of the album and some of the styling of the songs will bring country music to mind, this a wholly modern sound, a mix of shoegazer, country, and pop sounds that refer to each other while defining no genre. As the title of this Web project suggests, I am a fan of music that is not bound by "genre" constraints. Country Falls most certainly is music.

This album is great for listening at night, in the rain, or sitting alone on an empty beach. It's one of those musica endeavors that will put you in a contemplative, wistful mood.

Recommended? A hundred times over, yes.

Link—husky-rescue.com

Tracklist
1. Sweet Little Kitten
2. Summertime Cowboy
3. New Light of Tomorrow
4. Sunset Drive
5. My World
6. City Lights
7. Gasoline Girl
8. Rainbow Flows
9. Sleep Tight Tiger
10. Mean Street
11. The Good Man
12. The Man Who Flew Away