Descendant Records / 109702 FLAC / Lossless / Log (100%) / Cue / CD

01 Green Eyes and a Heart of Gold (4:14)
02 Tree to Grow (5:01)
03 Two Sides of Lonely (4:35)
04 You Never Need Nobody (4:50)
05 You Can Be All Kinds of Emotional (3:20)
06 You Don't Love Me Like You Used To (3:15)
07 Fire Red Horse (3:53)
08 Bleeding Out (3:41)
09 Looking For You (5:28)
10 Teach Me to Know (3:29)
11 The One You Should've Let Go (5:04)

OH MAN LET’S GET INTENTIONAL WITH THIS MUSIC. Those harmonies are so airtight! Those steel guitar accents are so great! Those song titles – “You Never Need Nobody,” “You Can Be All Kinds of Emotional,” and “You Don’t Love Me Like You Used To” are so… concerning? That girl probably isn’t for you, man!

Lone Bellow

But IΓÇÖm being unfair, because the bandΓÇÖs self-titled debut is very good. I am writing about it, after all. And, yes, like any Christiany hipstery band worth their salt of the earth these days, they do have great harmonies. And thereΓÇÖs that whole throwback-to-basics aesthetic that we all looooooooove, so they have that going for them.

Shoot. IΓÇÖm being snarky again.

IΓÇÖll be straightforward. I love this album! I really do. These guys (and gal) have a lot going for them. They have incredible voices, and they know how to write a beautiful song.

But.

Goodness itΓÇÖs derivative.

Again, I love this album. I love it so much. I have listened to it, like, 15 times. And it just came out yesterday. I will continue to listen to it. Because I love it. I canΓÇÖt stress that enough. But it just feels like the best possible amalgamation of a lot of things I already like.

The Lone BellowΓÇÖs influences are worn so heavily on their vintage sleeves that they might as well just be the sleeves themselves. They could go by THE NEEDTOBELLUM ANTECIVIL BREATHEWARS and I wouldnΓÇÖt bat an eye. There are even structural identicalities ΓÇô it feels like every song has an emotionally exhausting build-to-the-top, at which point thereΓÇÖs a top-of-lungs harmonize-a-long. And then it starts all over again.

At the same time, they pull it off very, very, very well. They are super, super, super good at what they do. Their voices are incredible. Their songs are so, so, SO catchy. I wish I could make music a tenth as good as these guys. Really.

ItΓÇÖs a no-brainer that The Lone Bellow is going to have fans. Everyone is going to love them. I love them. They will blow up. They might even be this yearΓÇÖs Lumineers. It will just be interesting to see how they grow as a band in the coming years; if theyΓÇÖre able to be the best Lone Bellow they can be, instead of a ΓÇ£best ofΓÇ¥ compilation of recent Christian hipster culture.
 
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