here in this nervous country. Beats by Thor and A few Horror movie references. Austin Texas. on this side of the hill.

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, ROCK: Psychedelic



Details:
This is the first album from the band âover the hillâ. They are in Austin, Texas, that city of slackers and hundred and hundreds of other bands playing in living rooms, bars, and bathrooms. This album was recorded during the late summer and fall of 2006 inside the studio that sits behind Rob Halversonâs house, close to highway 183. It came together slowly during those months, a day here and a day there, with a big break of time in the middle for Rob, who was recording and producing it, to have a baby girl. Morgan Coy sings and plays guitar. Thor Harris, who drums with the bands Shearwater and Smog, plays vibraphone and drums. Kirk Laktas, from the band My Education, plays organ, Rhodes, and piano on a few tracks. Rob Halverson plays some bass and synth. Steve Burnel plays some more bass. And Travis Cooper plays Rhodes and piano on a few songs as well.

Of the crowd of records that have been released over the last few years, this album stands away from the pack. It ventures into a territory of music that might make valuable chemicals crystallize in your head. It is a weird little gem of pre-post-apocalyptic american music that is both familiar and strange.

The songs on this album travel through different landscapes and emotions, musically and lyrically. From the synth orgy crescendo in âdrug studyâ to the calm culty pychedealia of âdream togetherâ, these songs construct their own world and usher the listener inside of it. The slightly raspy sweet voice of Coy sings about visions; a talking desert pig, Marylyn Chambersâ first non-pornographic role in David Cronenbergâs movie Rabid mixed with burning rivers, and an airline attendantâs one night stand with a man she has just met at a seafood buffet, to name a few. The themes might seem radically diverse when taken out of context, but thereâs something about the poetry of Coyâs lyrics and the music of the band supporting him that makes these stories fit comfortably next to one another on the album and inside our precarious world that we live in today. The production is intricately crafted, but not overly done, so that upon multiple listens, new colors and textures continue to reveal themselves in the music.

There are glimpses of the bandâs influences to be grasped here and there throughout the album: a glimmer of the Flaming Lips on the track âRabidâ, some of the complacent rage of Dinosaur Jr. on âDrug studyâ, a little bit of Animal Collectiveâs weirdness on âPossessionâ, and some of Brian Enoâs âmusic for airportsâ on âstewardessâ. But regardless of these musical references, Over the Hill never steers away from itâs own voice. This band has put together an album that is sharp, sweet, and alien, and somehow necessary in these zero years. It is an impressive debut, and one that you should pick up.