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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Naming your band isn't an envious task under any set of criteria. Locating a unique moniker that evokes your sound or tells a prospective listener something about you is even harder, but by that standard, Chatham County Line chose wisely.
Chatham County, North Carolina (there's one in Georgia, too), is located pretty much right in the middle of the state, south of Durham and Chapel Hill and directly West of Wake County, which has its seat in Raleigh, the state capital and the town in which the band formed. Wake County is one of the fastest growing counties in the United States, to the point where Raleigh is no longer paired with Durham in U.S. metropolitan statistics-- it's paired with Cary, one of its exploding suburbs. A little to the left on the map, Chatham County is still comparatively rural; until the 1940s, it was a major coal mining center. The image the band's name conjures fits its mostly acoustic bluegrass sound perfectly, straddling the urban-rural divide, pointing toward something more pastoral that is nonetheless changing-- those Raleigh and Durham suburbs are poking their way into Chatham County.
The band's close harmonies, sometimes featuring all four members, are prominent and continue to be one of its best assets. A high tenor doubling Wilson's lead vocal on the slow, dreamy "Porcelain Doll" adds just the right amount of ache, while the big harmonies of "Crop Comes In" lend it something of a West Coast feel, and the drums and pedal steel combine with that to make it a singular song in the band's repertoire. The bluesy tint of "Ringing in My Ears" is also new for the band, and the song's lyrical conceit of building verses out of pilfered lines from Paul Simon, George Jones, Smokey Robinson, George Harrison, Willie Nelson, and others is a clever way of paying a little tribute without trying to get so eclectic musically that the album loses coherence.
Aside from all that, though, there's still plenty of the roiling banjo, fiddle, and mandolin the band built itself on. They just seem to be branching out a bit and trying to give themselves new avenues to explore. As such, it's perhaps a little less satisfying and immediate than IV, which is still the band's finest album, but it seems to set them up to do anything they want on their next record. And it's also likely to help build their audience outward a bit-- it's not hard to imagine someone who's never much bothered with bluegrass but loves Fleet Foxes finding a lot to love here. In fact, the name has probably never been more appropriate
Chatham County, North Carolina (there's one in Georgia, too), is located pretty much right in the middle of the state, south of Durham and Chapel Hill and directly West of Wake County, which has its seat in Raleigh, the state capital and the town in which the band formed. Wake County is one of the fastest growing counties in the United States, to the point where Raleigh is no longer paired with Durham in U.S. metropolitan statistics-- it's paired with Cary, one of its exploding suburbs. A little to the left on the map, Chatham County is still comparatively rural; until the 1940s, it was a major coal mining center. The image the band's name conjures fits its mostly acoustic bluegrass sound perfectly, straddling the urban-rural divide, pointing toward something more pastoral that is nonetheless changing-- those Raleigh and Durham suburbs are poking their way into Chatham County.
The band's close harmonies, sometimes featuring all four members, are prominent and continue to be one of its best assets. A high tenor doubling Wilson's lead vocal on the slow, dreamy "Porcelain Doll" adds just the right amount of ache, while the big harmonies of "Crop Comes In" lend it something of a West Coast feel, and the drums and pedal steel combine with that to make it a singular song in the band's repertoire. The bluesy tint of "Ringing in My Ears" is also new for the band, and the song's lyrical conceit of building verses out of pilfered lines from Paul Simon, George Jones, Smokey Robinson, George Harrison, Willie Nelson, and others is a clever way of paying a little tribute without trying to get so eclectic musically that the album loses coherence.
Aside from all that, though, there's still plenty of the roiling banjo, fiddle, and mandolin the band built itself on. They just seem to be branching out a bit and trying to give themselves new avenues to explore. As such, it's perhaps a little less satisfying and immediate than IV, which is still the band's finest album, but it seems to set them up to do anything they want on their next record. And it's also likely to help build their audience outward a bit-- it's not hard to imagine someone who's never much bothered with bluegrass but loves Fleet Foxes finding a lot to love here. In fact, the name has probably never been more appropriate
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Well I think Chatham County Line have actually topped "IV" with this one, the first three songs sound effortless, Porcelain Doll is this album's One More Minute beautifully arranged I also think it's a bit more uptempo overall than IV with tremendous harmonies. If you like Americana or Bluegrass then you will love this album.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Beautiful harmonies, masterful playing, great songcraft - if you appreciate good music you'll love it.
Went to see them in Bristol last night - they sound even better live than on the album, and the album's top.
Went to see them in Bristol last night - they sound even better live than on the album, and the album's top.
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