What are they putting in the water in Canada? Yet again the Canadians are spoiling us with another innovative and exciting release. After excellent albums over the last two years from the likes of Plants and Animals, Broken Social Scene, AC Newman and Sunset Rubdown, step forward The Rural Alberta Advantage, from Toronto, with their debut Hometown. Although originally released independently last year it has now got a welcome re-release on the band’s new label Saddle Creek Records.
This largely acoustic guitar, drums and keyboards album is rough and ready in places but highly polished in others, offering an interesting mix of Postal Service style electo-indie pop and bar room sing-a-longs.
Opening track ‘The Ballad of the RAA’, is the most Postal Service sounding of all the tracks. It’s a great opener, but if the whole album had this feel then Rural Alberta Advantage would be caught in a trap that so many others have fallen into of being simply a poorer version of Postal Service. Luckily the emphasis shifts to the Canadian wilds with the barn-stomping second track ‘Rush Apart’ and third track ‘The Deathbridge in Lethbridge’.
The keyboards are back for fourth track ‘Don’t Haunt This Place, which complete with off kilter style drumming and great backing vocals from the band’s Amy Cole, is the best track on the album.
‘Don’t Haunt this Place,’ also opens up the album’s best sequence of tracks, that also includes ‘The Deadroads’ and ‘Drain the Blood’. Apart from the excellent ‘Frank AB’ and wistful closing track, ‘In the Summertime’, the rest of the album is largely fillers. Worth listening, but not as good as the high quality middle section.
As a whole Hometowns is uneven, but that doesn’t matter. It offers a good blend, some excellent potential singles and shows real promise for the future. There’s also a welcome passion in singer Nils Edenloff’s vocals that stands out. Let’s hope they keep drinking whatever it is that is being put in the Ontario water.
7/10
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