The Bloom and the Blight
ATO
2012
Rating: 6.5 bug collections out of 10
It feels like it's been a long time since I've paid much attention to the Two Gallants. I don't mean that to sound as bad as it does, it's just when I used to live in SF I saw them play live quite a few times and listened to their records frequently, and then for whatever reason when I moved back to the East Coast they sorta dropped off my radar.
In listening to "The Bloom and the Blight," the first album of theirs I've really paid attention to since "The Throes," this almost sounds like a different band. Not that that should be surprising nearly a decade later, but I was surprised at how upbeat and rockin' this new record is. Their older material felt so intimate and delicate, but these tracks are thick and robust like a television advertisement for spaghetti sauce. The first three songs are all rollicking affairs, and you don't get back to the old alt-folk version of the band until the fourth track "Broken Eyes," and then the tempos shift intermittently for the rest of the record.
I'm really not sure what to think of this new direction...it's an enjoyable record to be sure, but in some ways a little off-putting to someone like me who doesn't handle change well when bands go in different directions. I'm totally guessing but I bet this album really translates well live, probably even better than in the recordings. Guess I'll just have to see them live again and verify this.
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