INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Cam Ewart is one hell of a storyteller. Frontman of alt-country group Ghost Towns Of The Midwest, Ewart spends the bulk of the band’s debut EP spinning tales of death, debauchery and destruction.
And yet, like Wagons (for instance), the darkness of the lyrics doesn’t for a second detract from the rollicking good time Ewart and his bandmates are having as they cruise the whisky-drenched saloon bar backdrops of their songs.
Clocking in at just 27 minutes, Field Recordings Of… is the perfect introduction to the band. There’s a taste of everything, from the sing-along alt-country stomp of ‘Gallow Birds’, to the down-and-out rock’n’roll blast of ‘Round The Bend’, to the toe-tapping narrative sweep of ‘Judas’(in which, with a melody that recalls Townes Van Zandt’s ‘Rake’, Ewart takes the biblical figures of Jesus and Judas and sits them in a minibus on tour as a band).
Picking a highlight is difficult given the quality of all six songs. If pressed, however, it’s the closer ‘Car Crash’that seems to linger the most. It certainly carries the most weight in the collection. Putting aside his drunken-storyteller shtick for a moment, Ewart lays his heart on the line in a poignant ballad that uses the image of a wayward car as a metaphor for a life gone out of control.
It’s a very promising debut indeed.
4/5.
Field Recordings Of… is out now through Independent.
