"I pray to the saints of empty gas tanks, the God of the bottom of the ninth..."
Why is Americana folk music so compelling? Whether filtered through heartland rock or blue collar rock or all kinds of rustic roots music it has a way of getting under your skin. Maybe because it is so universal. It, at it's best, feels earth bound, feels cut up, bruised with the struggle of life and the toil of life and whether you are from Kansas or New York City or Burundi or Sichuan or Ózd, you can feel the wear and tear of it all and relate.
Why is Americana folk music so compelling? Whether filtered through heartland rock or blue collar rock or all kinds of rustic roots music it has a way of getting under your skin. Maybe because it is so universal. It, at it's best, feels earth bound, feels cut up, bruised with the struggle of life and the toil of life and whether you are from Kansas or New York City or Burundi or Sichuan or Ózd, you can feel the wear and tear of it all and relate.
The latest single by The Ruralists entitled "In Between Here Now" has an existential thread running through it. The A side: "In Between" starts out misty eyed with one acoustic guitar and Luke Hawley ruminating as he sings, "If life's a joke, I've always hoped the laugh behind it is divine, and we've just misread the room. And what's the point is not the point at all, it's much too small, and the laughter was the truth." As airy other instrumentation jumps in at one point erupting into a tumultuous dance you can feel the years of questions unraveling, unpeeling like an onion. I love the heavy drums that feel somehow stoic but impassioned as well like an internal twisted stomach ache. In the end, the narrative questioning youth and grasping with getting older leaves the big question mark of life sort of open ended. The simple beautiful line that life is something in between the "tears of joy and tears of pain" and that feeling whole in the end is "simple math", do more good than bad, love more than hate, leave your domain, your slice of the world better is a hopeful thing to hang your hat on (as that swelling organ rolls in like a Church song).
That rolling organ extends to the B side: "Here Now" as Hawley and the boys twist their brand of folk rock a bit inside out. Hawley's sleight country drawl always pulls your head into folk, into alt country but "Here Now" is something all together different. The sonic journey begins with Hawley's reflective vox, "I pray to the saints of empty gas tanks, the God of the bottom of the ninth" against that rolling organ and the iconic Jack Buck radio transmissions of the Twins 1991 walk off game. Then there are the circular guitar lines bathed in avant psychedelia, the drum work that ticks like a clock, trip hops and rocks, the tightly wound bass lines, the keys that push tones between a Fender Rhodes and a Farfisa Fast 3, the surprising gang vox and the Pere Ubu spirals all utterly surprise me. Hawley's vocal countenance like a doe eyed Judy Garland staring at storm clouds before her black and white world turns Technicolor and the head long fall into this exquisite composition that feels more art rock than folk (by far) feels so damn enchanting. I thought of Radiohead and the Unknown Mortal Orchestra more than Wilco and The Band on this compelling piece of music. Mind blown.
Kudos to Luke Hawley (guitar / vocals), Laremy De Vries (electric guitar), Jake Miller (bass), Christian Lief (drums) and anyone else involved with this single.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/fullyruralized/
https://www.instagram.com/fullyruralized/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR-lGmt3dQb2Tsr4kDWwDYQ
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Y2Q1kHdi7BN3cuiXr8VX4
https://www.fullyruralized.com/
We all end up where we end up. And if we're lucky, we find some people to play music with.
The Ruralists are a band born out of necessity, out of picking the best available options in a small town. Nine times out of ten that's pretty bad, the fodder for a short-lived bar band. But this is different.
Luke's songs are different, bringing in the urgency of life lived and yearned for.
The rhythm sections is different. Interpreting and living into not just the beats, but the meaning.
And then all those guitars, telling the story thrice.
Toss in a pipe organ, some random brass, and an occasional electro beat and, well, it's The Ruralists. Everything you didn't know you needed.
The Ruralists, alt rock, indie rock, folk, folk indie, Americana, Heartland rock, rustic, dreamy, art rock, sonic journey, Luke Hawley, new single, "In Between Here Now", blended genres,
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