Son, Ambulance are one of those bands you hear mentioned constantly in reference to the whole Nebraska Saddle Creek scene. Ruled predominantly by Bright Eyes, Cursive and The Faint it’s not very often that you get a chance to hear the offerings available from this widely known but relatively unheard bunch. Fellow Omaha boys Ladyfinger and Neva Dinova have provided Saddle Creek with a newer, fresher sound as of late and shown that this is clearly a label moving forward, this is a fact further emphasised by the release of the third Son, Ambulance album ‘Someone Else’s Déjà vu’

Prior to doing this review I felt compelled to check out the rest of the Son, Ambulance back catalogue as like many others I’ve known of this band for as long as I can remember but only ever heard one or two tracks. Thanks to a friend of mine who simply adores all things Saddle Creek I was able to borrow the first two albums ‘Euphemystic’ (2001) and ‘Key’ (2004). After listening to them both it’s difficult to understand why these guys remain as underrated as they do, not dissimilar to early Death Cab in many ways but with a definite jazzy twist Son, Ambulance truly have a sound of their own.
The band’s third album ‘Someone Else’s Déjà vu’ is an album that after hearing it’s predecessors has much anticipation riding on it’s shoulders but it’s pretty clear form the outset that it isn’t going to disappoint.

Filled with tracks of immense beauty and lyrical genius ‘Someone Else’s Déjà vu’ is a powerfully gentle album with a really loveable quality. Opening track ‘A Girl In New York City’ is the first step in a new and amazingly cool direction, who would’ve thought that fusing elements of Lounge music and modern folk could work so well? Well, evidently it does. This track in particular along with the awesome ‘Quand Tu Marches Seul’ will have images of Austin Powers movies and cocktails floating round your head throughout. It may sound like a slightly alienating concept at first but with every genre/sub-genre getting hourly new tags or labels (folktronica, math-pop, nu-rave to name a few) I think that this new breed of ‘loungecore’ may not dazzle as many people as it should.

Classic elements of Son, Ambulance are still ever present on songs like ‘The Renegade’ and ‘Constellations’ which provide a humble accompaniment to this bold new step. Each track on the album compliments the last perfectly almost like a movie soundtrack with the lyrics of each track being so well executed you can’t help but bring your own story to each song. Atmospheric, standout track ‘Juliet’s Son’ is like walking through a dream with it’s effected vocals and dreamy guitar lines and will keep you mesmerised the whole way through.
Every track has it’s own particular charm, from the epic ‘Yesterday Morning’ to the 43 seconds of ambient soundscaping on ‘And’ there is never a dull moment that loses your attention making this album a very easy one to listen to in it’s entirety again and again.

Son, Ambulance have an amazing 2 albums already to their name, I strongly recommend checking them out before moving on to ‘Someone Else’s Déjà vu’ to truly appreciate it’s quality, if you don’t however, it’s still an amazing album with some amazingly good tracks. Loungecore, remember where you heard it first.