Earnest

Artist: The Stillsons
Label: Mountain King Music/FUSE
Website: thestillsons.com

The Stillsons have just finished their mammoth multi-date tour that took them all the way through regional New South Wales and Queensland. The tour came off the back of their fantastic new alt-country album Earnest, an LP that’s been sitting on our “to review” pile for far too long – so we figured it was about time to let you know our thoughts.

Earnest opens with the wonderfully rootsy “Call Me Up”, a track which instantly sets the tone for the album. There’s a laidback, toe-tapping energy to this track that threads its way through the rest of the songs, regardless of the different genres (country, roots, pop, folk) they explore – and it’s this energy that really sells this album for me.

Lyrically most of the tracks are simple but that’s just fine – it’s obvious that The Stillsons are highly accomplished musicians and it’s in the melody that they shine. Justin Bernasconi (guitar, harmonica, ukulele), Cat Canteri (drums, guitar) and Ben Franz (pedal-steel, lap-steel) are very much enjoying constructing the music around these songs and the result is very tight and really technically interesting.

While lead vocals are shared, mainly between Bernasconi and Cateri, it is the latter’s songs that really turn my head. “John the Dogg”, “Rock For You” and “In Violince” all showcase Cateri’s simple, elegant country voice and part of me wishes she wasn’t relegated to backing vocals as often as she seems to be. Which is not a slight on Bernasconi or Franz, both of whom provide some really interesting vocal takes throughout the album – I’m really impressed with just how much diversity there is with these guys.

The highlights on Earnest for me would be “Jimmy’s Treehouse” with it’s Chet Atkins-esque melody and Elliot Smith vocal style, “Deserve” which is just a straight up alt-country driver and the aforementioned “In Violince” which is the slowest and longest track on the album and really demonstrates Fanz’s mastery of the lap-steel.

Overall a solid effort from The Stillsons. Earnest is an album I’d recommend to any fan of modern alt-country and is a wonderful example of a band really enjoying the music that they’re creating.

Evan Hughes

For more of Evan Hughes’ music reviews, check out Timber and Steel