Bronze Age
Odessa
2013
Rating: 8 telephone chords out of 10
The Kingsbury Manx seem to be an easy band to overlook. That's even true here in the Triangle, where both the band and I live. They don't perform live a ton but when they do it's to little buzz and middle-sized crowds at best. And all that is a shame because they are one of the best folk pop bands to be found anywhere. I place them in the same vein as the Clientele and Mojave 3, who perform a similar brand of dreamy, almost orchestral-sounding pop music. Even a comparison to Wilco isn't far fetched, especially if you're referring to older "Summer Teeth" era Wilco before Nels Cline came in and barfed a bunch of talented-but-terrible guitar all over their sound.
This is music that rewards those who listen closely, with hooks that creep in rather than grab you from the first note. Their self-titled debut record might still be my favorite, perhaps partly because of nostalgia, but the band keeps getting better with age. Someone could easily convince me that "Bronze Age" is their best output, and I doubt I'd have much of a retort. "How Are Things Done" and the upbeat Grandaddy-ish "Future Hunter" are as good as anything the band has written, and either could and should be used to convert folks into fandom. The Manx deserve it.
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