Putting The Days To Bed

The Long Winters

Barsuk Records, 2006

http://www.thelongwinters.com/

REVIEW BY: Melanie Love

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 04/10/2008

Putting the Days To Bed, the third album from Seattle indie rockers The Long Winters, has “Me” written all over it: it’s a forty-minute slice of lushly catchy, lyrically intimate guitar-based pop, with impassioned vocals that sound just enough like Okervill River’s Will Sheff to have me instantly intrigued -- basically, the only incentives I need to drop some money on yet another impulse purchase.

Though frontman John Roderick grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, the word that comes to mind most on this disc is “warm:” nearly every track is backed by jangling, cheerful instrumentation and layered harmonies, creating a sunny soundscape to backdrop the bittersweet, at times even reaching towards bleak, lyrics.

Starting things off, “Pushover” establishes the quintessential Long Winters sound: rich melodies, lilting guitar riffs and a sense of uncontainable joy that all culminates in a stick-in-your-head chorus.  In a string of similarly winning pop gems, “Fire Island, AK” combines stabs of guitar and rollicking piano chords, while “Teaspoon” is pure aural bounciness with a set of slightly ominous lyrics (“You weighed your suitcase down, but it still wouldn't sink / I know that crime doesn't pay, but I don't know any other way”) that nicely undercut the overt cheer. my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

“Hindsight,” for me, is by far the album’s pinnacle, at least in terms of achingly bittersweet, all too true lyricism: “And if I hold you now, will I be holding a snowball when the season changes and I'm craving the sun?” Roderick croons as the song crescendos into a shimmer of guitars and cascading drums. Here, all of Roderick’s lyrical focus on regret and unfulfilled wishes are made lovely by his raw, wry candor and the triumphant instrumentation, assuring that memory doesn’t always have to be melancholy.

It’s a tough act to follow, but “Sky Is Open” does a solid job, figuring in electronic beats and jagged guitars that work unexpectedly well with the soaring vocals and the song’s sense of sheer optimism; the lyrics tell the tale of a retired Air Force pilot recognizing the limitlessness of the skies, culminating in his proclamation, “I’m finally the highest bird.” 

Admittedly, the album does slow a bit as it hits its middle, remaining altogether likeable but a bit too predictable in its consistency: “Clouds” and “Ultimatum” both meander along to twinkling twangs of guitars, but they’re missing that essential hook that made the preceding songs so endearing, though the rawer vocals and punchy beats of “Rich Wife” are a nice break from the relative slump. Closer “Seven,” an aching acoustic ballad that’s accented well with crisp drumbeats and lush guitars, reclaims the momentum just in time to leave Putting The Days To Bed in your head, making this album a well-rounded, if not altogether groundbreaking, effort from a promising band.

Rating: B

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© 2008 Melanie Love and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Barsuk Records, and is used for informational purposes only.