Mountain Meadows is the second album from Canadian alternative country trio Elliott Brood. Following 2005's impressive, but largely unnoticed debut Ambassador, the band have developed their sound while staying close to their traditional roots. The album has been described as 'hardcore country', conjuring up images of Hayseed Dixie and their obsession with Motorhead. That is something of a misnomer as Elliott Brood's music is much more interesting.
Mountain Meadows is an astonishing mix of old fashioned approach and new musical arrangements. This is clear from the start as the beautiful instrumentation of Springsteen-esque opener 'Fingers And Tongues' makes way for Mark Sasso's wonderful rasping vocals. By the end of the song he is practically screaming as the frantic guitar strumming brings the song to a close. From here the album weaves through numerous music styles but all within the same country/folk/indie framework. 'Write It All Down For You' fuses delicate guitars with dramatic banging drums and "hey hey hey" vocals to create a contrast. Add in Sasso's voice and there is now a three way split. Somehow it all works together. Compare this to the exquisite 'The Valley Town', a light and breezy story with its foot tapping rhythm, and you almost have a different band. Even the odd vocal distortion when Sasso lets go is part of the charm.
There are very few faults here but most arrive when the band are getting too comfortable. The country stomp, odd vocal structure and vibrant guitars of 'T-Bill' and the more conventional banjo riff and harmonica of 'Without Again' are fine but 'Woodward Avenue' sounds like a bad hoe down. Given all that has come before, it sounds overdone and the added trumpet gets in the way. This is all forgiven as occasionally the band bring it all together in style. 'Garden River' is about as complete as it gets, a full-on country rock epic pulling no punches. By the time they hit the chorus, the band are really going for it - a tremendous noise for a three piece. It descends in the mid-section but recovers and picks up again for the end. Album closer 'Miss You Now' is the nearest to this high point, starting off like a Faces cover with Stewart in his prime, before introducing a series of relentless shouty pop moments over stomping guitars and drums. If anything, as the longest song on the album, this threatens to outstay its welcome.
The main driving force of Mountain Meadows is not only strength and depth but the constant variation. 'Notes' captures Rosh Ritter at his engaging best before bringing in a curious up-down melody and old time piano. '31 years' is a gorgeous piece of campfire storytelling with a dark edge; the musical control is outstanding. But the real surprise is 'The Body' which has a similar melancholy feel, fairly average for the first three minutes until it starts again with some train/plane sampling and female vocals. Likewise, after a messy start, 'Chuckwagon' is a menacing guitar led instrumental (aside from the occasional distant cry). It could not be more different.
Elliott Brood has made a great album - easily accessible, varied and interesting without being mainstream. The band manage to create a unique blend of traditional roots and modern song writing, all wrapped up in a brilliant sound. An excellent second album.
8/10
Elliott BROOD HOME MySpace.com - Elliott BROOD - TORONTO, CA - Folk Rock / Acoustic / Soul - www.myspace.com/elliottbrood 
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