The Matheny family from Chapel Hill offers another album of power pop-infused alternative country songs with Oh Tall Tree in the Ear. As on Roman Candle's previous releases, Skip Matheny sings passionately about romance, heartbreak, and life on the road while his wife, Timshel, riffs away on guitar and brother Logan attacks or cuddles the drums as appropriate. Obvious influences the dB's, Van Morrison, and Big Star inform most of the album's 11 songs; dBer Chris Stamey returns to co-produce with Jason Lehning, and the result is a bright, bold, and somewhat epic concoction that too frequently drowns out the vocals, making the lyrics a little hard to grasp. Oh Tall Tree in the Ear is a sometimes exhilarating, often winning slice-of-life affair in the best tradition of catchy alt-country. It might not be a classic, but there's a sense Roman Candle are capable of crafting one.
Condition: Brand New Factory Sealed
TRACK LISTING
1 Eden Was a Garden 3:16
2 One More Road 4:10
3 Why Modern Radio Is A-OK 3:50
4 They Say 4:17
5 Big Light 3:57
6 Sonnet 46 1:55
7 A Heartbeat 2:52
8 Woke Up This Morning 5:22
9 I Was a Fool 4:10
10 Starting from Scratch 3:31
11 Early Aubade 3:40
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