lucero @ cat’s cradle, originally uploaded by minervacat.

Olin & the Moon — Terrible Town. Out 5/6/2009, self-released.

I was turned on to Los Angeles-based indie rockers Olin & the Moon via a free download of their sophomore album, 40 Miles of Bad Road, on ninebullets.net last year. They straddle that line between indie rock and alt country — equally as at home at Pitchfork as Bristol Rhythm & Roots — and frontman David LaBrel’s voice oftens reminds me strongly of Conor Oberst’s solo stuff. That’s not a bad thing; 40 Miles of Bad Road was solid little album, with moments, like “Black Magic Blues” that ring with shimmery guitars and layered vocals, where they swing more towards the pop side of things and really stand out, or on their Secret EP where they veer directly country and produce an exceptional cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel”.

So I wasn’t sure what to expect from their third release, 2009’s Terrible Town — the decisive sonic choices that mark their better moments, or the careful, safe sound that scores their good, but not memorable, songs.

And I got the decisive side of things, a consistent swerve from their jangly indie pop leanings into the wailing pedal steel and crunchy lonesome alt-country guitar sound that I prefer from them. Terrible Town isn’t an album that blows you away, but it’s subtly excellent and occasionally heart stoppingly gorgeous (album-ender “Worn” made me cry at work; it’s a heartbreaking electric-acoustic ballad worthy of Brent Best of Slobberbone’s finest moments). And I think it’s infinitely more even than 40 Miles of Bad Road, which was all I wanted from it. Now I just wish they’d come tour out here, please and thank you, so I could tell them so in person.

[Olin & the Moon — “Worn”] 7MB, .mp3. a heart gets worn when you wear it out/and you’ve gone to far to turn back now
[Olin & the Moon — “Wagon Wheel”] 4MB, .mp3. Old Crow Medicine Show cover.

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