Saddle Creek
2007
The Scenery Of Farewell
About This Album
Six months after a scuffle at a Houston nightclub that sent waves of outrage across the music-blogger community, San Francisco's Two Gallants released an EP, The Scenery of Farewell, in anticipation of their upcoming full-length, much like how Saddle Creek labelmates Bright Eyes issued the six-song Four Winds single a month before Cassadaga came out. The five tracks here show a different face of the band, calmer and more reflective, with little of the more raucous progressions found in their previous albums. The opener, "Seems Like Home to Me," is probably as close as the Gallants come to their normal energy, working the bass and the fiddle into a steady stomp as guitarist/frontman Adam Stephens calls out, his voice wavering somewhere between Dylan's and Conor Oberst's: "You could set me free/You could ease my load." This formula, the country-inflected folk, the punk-singer/songwriter, is what has and what continues to work best for the Two Gallants, and where they break off into something slower and more contemplative is where they run into problems. The beleaguered closer, "Linger On," is aptly named: Stephens uses a piano, an instrument he seems less comfortable on, echoing his vocal lines with the keys, which gives the song an affectation that doesn't suit the band -- too dramatic and drawn-out -- and highlights the hackneyed verses, makes it something that belongs on adult alternative radio rather than an underground college station. "Up the Country," too, while it does feature nice string and harmonica work, is a little too uneventful, both lyrically and musically, to really do much besides play out. It's not that the band isn't capable of executing these softer songs -- they show their skills off quite nicely on the lovely "All Your Faithless Loyalties" -- but it's new enough for them that it's not consistent, and it doesn't happen naturally, like how their livelier work just seems to pour out of them with little strain or effort. There's room for hope here on The Scenery of Farewell, but there's room for improvement, too. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
Track List (try track 1)

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