Tyson Ballew
The Summer of Dodos
ppr 26 1st pressing: 100 CASS
June 09
$5 (postage paid)
6 song Cassette EP recorded in my kitchen on Front Street. Stripped down compared to Fruit Trees. Tapes come with FREE digital download and 7 bonus songs.
Review:
There’s something a little bit Billy Joe Armstrong about Tyson Ballew’s vocals—the way he sings about crushes made me recently unearth Green Day’s 1,039/ Smoothed Out Slappy Hours just to hear “The One I Want.” That said, the local troubadour injects his own dramatic notions of love into his newest album, and darkens them with an end-of-the-world earnestness.
In “The Hatchet,” he sings, “There’s unforeseen dangers in everything and we’d be lucky if we fell in love with anybody.” He counterbalances that in “Honest Friends” when he unabashedl
These kinds of songs evoke the excitement of first crushes and loitering on the sidewalk outside of all-ages rock shows, or hanging out with friends in parks at midnight. The fact that the album is on tape makes it all the more nostalgic, and the little details—clapping effects sharp as shotguns, poppy vocal layering—gives it brightness despite bleak undertones.
In fact, Ballew might be the perfect acoustic guitarist to hang out with during the apocalypse, mostly because his angst is cradled in starry-eyed acceptance for whatever excitement—good or bad—happens next. (Erika Fredrickson)
Tracklisting:
- The Hatchet
- Kill Rock Stars
- Repeat History
- Point Blank
- Honest Friends
- I need you to try a little harder for me ( a song by Go Slowpoke)