Blitzen Trapper, Welcome Wagon reviews

Blitzen Trapper - Furr

Furr, Blitzen Trapper’s first LP on the iconic label Sub Pop Records, is music for wanderers. This is the fourth release from the Portland, Oregon-based band, and they display a knack for penning rock n’ roll melodies and lilting folk ballads.

Don’t underestimate this album — it is neither a mediocre folk-rock meandering nor a rootless pop spectacle. The instrumentation is creative but tasteful, ranging from harmonica and 12-string guitars to agogo bells, beepy synthesizers and distorted bass-guitar, and even a reverberating loon-call or two.

The title track is a dreamy acoustic song about a young man that spends six years in the forest as a wolf, and is easily the strongest tune on the album. However, the album is not just an anthropomorphic fantasy-romp. The lyrics imply recurring themes of naturalism, religious hypocrisy, escapism, a critique of technocracy and, of course, romance.

Blitzen Trapper is a forward-thinking inheritor of the classic rock n’ roll legacy, and their newest album, Furr displays a graceful mastery of craft as well as dissatisfaction with the instrumental stasis and shallow lyrics that are often found in recent music. Highly recommended.

- Chris Bartels, Volunteer DJ

Welcome Wagon - Welcome to the Welcome Wagon

Never fear, Sufjan Stevens fans, The Welcome Wagon is here! Produced and arranged by Sufjan himself, The Welcome Wagon is a husband and wife duo from New York. Reverend Thomas Vito and Monique Aiuto sing their simple tunes over Stevens’ quirky arrangements with instrumentation including banjo, brass and gospel choir. “Welcome to the Welcome Wagon” is a compilation of hymns, pop covers and originals. The first track on the album, “Up On A Mountain” runs its course in true Sufjan form. Light guitar accompanies soft male vocals and the song builds to a small chorus of voices and a muted trumpet much like Sufjan’s “Casimir Pulaski Day.” Not every song on the album is as tame as the first track, however. “Sold! To The Nice Rich Man” picks up the tempo with a sparkling piano part, electric guitar, and energetic drums. The songs never stray from a quirky folk pop, but they range nicely in emotion and creativity. At least it will keep your from going crazy until the next Sufjan Stevens album arrives.

- Sarah Frederickson, Rock Music Director