The Story Of represents the new breed of indie acts that are redefining
The music on the band’s self-produced fourth studio effort Until The Autumn has a warmly organic feel, but in no way is it “folky.” Instruments like the banjo, harmonica or accordion are conspicuously absent. With the aid of keyboards and guitars alone, the band carries the music in the direction it wants to.
Staying true to their sense of sylvan individualism, their take on war songs is nostalgic and not angry or bitter. The aptly titled “Veterans Day” proceeds like a marching song as the lyrics sing, “I believe there’s a season for wars to corrupt / And again, let it come, revolve back to love,” paying tribute to the troops not in opinion but in poetry.
On “The Flock,” one of the few tracks that feature an obvious presence of acoustic guitar, the music is more ethereal than grounded. For this song, which is rooted in the simple pleasures of freedom, the dreamy, lonesome vocals reach the kind of earthiness they aspire to.
But on rare occasions, like the opening cut “Berkley” and closer “Centralia,” the band has the wispiness of a Brit-pop act, someone along the lines of Coldplay rather than that of Americana refashioning Fleet Foxes. Not ideally pastoral, but definitely picturesque, these cuts are sweet wafts of great pop songs.
With a knack for creating the bucolic without sounding so, the refined music on Until The Autumn is like the crisp smell of morning autumn air that the album’s title evokes. The band recorded and produced this album in a cabin on the Colorado River., and no doubt, the best music is born out of inspiration.
