WICKLOW ATWATER -
THE FALLEN FLAME STRING BAND LP
2016 - Self Released
Wicklow Atwater is a five piece string band consisting of a group of friends who were born, grew up and still reside in Atwater Village, Southern California. They are all multi instrumentalists and it is easy to understand that they play together as much by instinct as by the spoken word, knowing each other as well as they do. That can be discerned by just one listen to this incredible full length debut on which the quality of the playing and the atmosphere they create has echoes of the old timers of eight or nine decades ago. Add the raw, unselfconscious vocals and, certainly to my ears, this is as good as string band music (or any other music if it comes to that) gets! I recently read a description of them that suggested their all acoustic music comes under the banner of 'Americana,' a term that includes bluegrass, old time, country, folk and blues in varying degrees and quite possibly much else besides! Can't argue with that although those descriptive words are one dimensional and don't take into account the huge importance of the atmosphere or the depth of feeling that is inherent in the music played by the very best string bands, a collection that just has to include Wicklow Atwater. Many are capable of virtuoso playing but are not able to summon up any 'depth' or 'atmosphere' instead producing virtual music by numbers. As far as I'm concerned Wicklow Atwater has an abundance of everything required, putting them at the top of the generic tree with just a few others, in fact I would suggest if some of the great string bands of old could hear this band they would be impressed and accept them as peers.
The band comprises Billy Lupton on mandolin and vocals, Nick Lupton plays guitar, Jessica Alvillar, violin, Gilbert Montoya, banjo and vocals and David Archey is on harmonica and vocals. Most of the music for these seventeen original songs was a band effort, whereas David Archey wrote most of the lyrics and also sings lead on all but two of the songs which were written and sung by Gilbert Montoya. It is quite astounding to know that a young band born and raised nearly as far from the Appalachians as I was has such mastery and so much feeling for a music that was quite possibly not in their 'genes.'
It's not always easy to precisely work out the instrumentation but the album loses nothing by this; it's just the power of and hard driving enthusiasm for the music, with no muddying of the sound. Whilst many of the songs are played at break neck speed, instead of falling into the trap of playing everything at the same speed they vary the pace, often from one song to the next and with plenty of stylistic variations, something that sets them apart from their peers and makes the album such an addictive listen. There are not exactly any slow 'crooned' ballads but the variations are excellent and will always keep the listener off guard and wondering what comes next. Whilst David Archey's vocals always have a distinctive raw edge, as the album progressed it was nice to hear that he could just as easily cope with variations in tempo and style, albeit not straying too far, most of the time, from the bands upbeat up tempo fieriness.
The intro on the first song, Don't throw (my love away) is by way of the banjo that is soon joined by guitar, harmonica, mandolin and fiddle, along with the raw hard driving vocal. Different instruments take turns to be at the fore, all supported by some tremendous band harmonies on an excellent song. On Sleeping through (the good parts of the day) things slow a little with the guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica and keyboards leading in to the excellent, still raw, but melodic lead vocal with restrained harmonies and the song gradually picks up a little speed on an excellent tale of the conclusion of a love affair. It is different to what has gone before but despite the restraint it is still a song full of dynamism and fire, just stylistically a variation but the Wicklow Atwater sound is still in strong evidence! Come on over, albeit briefly, signals a complete change with a song, written by Gilbert Montoya, that has much more of a western swing meets vaudeville feel on this duet that is a little more restrained but still with the edgy vocals. The playing has more of a controlled feel with the fiddle, banjo and mandolin being a little 'smoother' although the duet vocals bring a strong humorous element. The banjo and fiddle start give I wanna be yer man an edgy 'gypsy jazz 'sound increased by the raw, slightly less throat shredding than Louis Armstrong, vocal but a song that has a powerful melody with some nice harmonies, with the excellent bass and fiddle used a little differently to the driving 'hillbillyness' of some of the songs on what is basically a strong love song, despite their highly individual take! On Infidelity there is a much slower start, with the acoustic guitar, joined by banjo, harmonica, bass guitar and then the vocal on a much slower 'story song' with mandolin joining in and some almost angelic harmonies bringing another welcome variation to this tremendous recording. Final mention goes to Don't wanna wait forever on which we are treated to another change in tempo and style on a song on which even the lead vocal is (a little!) smoother, as is the texture of the arrangement, with the usual excellent harmonies and the instrumentation much more restrained, almost smoothed out, exactly meeting this songs requirements. It has more of a contemporary 'country' structure although most will wonder, 'contemporary with who?' but it is a great song and beautifully performed, showing off the bands immense skills.
Prior to this debut full length album Wicklow Atwater had recorded and self released two e.ps, that having now heard them, are of a similar quality to this exceptional album. Their love and feel for playing in this loose, bordering on ambiguous, genre is obvious to all who hear them and as we're often told if you enjoy what you're doing you have a good chance of being good at it! I've always thought that the important elements of string band music are fairly obviously instrumental prowess and good songs, but would suggest that the vocals, unlike most musical strains, require enthusiasm and drive over 'perfect pitch,' culminating in the most important aspect of all; Atmosphere! In actual fact I'm not at all sure that artists such as top country singers like George Strait would be any good at playing in a 'string band.' The ragged, often seemingly ramshackle and usually untutored enthusiasm that is peculiar to some of the greats just wouldn't suit the highly disciplined 'country pop' style that seems to sell so well. Maybe Wicklow Atwater will be the band to break up the monotony of the charts!
http://wicklowatwater.bandcamp.com/
Wicklow Atwater is a five piece string band consisting of a group of friends who were born, grew up and still reside in Atwater Village, Southern California. They are all multi instrumentalists and it is easy to understand that they play together as much by instinct as by the spoken word, knowing each other as well as they do. That can be discerned by just one listen to this incredible full length debut on which the quality of the playing and the atmosphere they create has echoes of the old timers of eight or nine decades ago. Add the raw, unselfconscious vocals and, certainly to my ears, this is as good as string band music (or any other music if it comes to that) gets! I recently read a description of them that suggested their all acoustic music comes under the banner of 'Americana,' a term that includes bluegrass, old time, country, folk and blues in varying degrees and quite possibly much else besides! Can't argue with that although those descriptive words are one dimensional and don't take into account the huge importance of the atmosphere or the depth of feeling that is inherent in the music played by the very best string bands, a collection that just has to include Wicklow Atwater. Many are capable of virtuoso playing but are not able to summon up any 'depth' or 'atmosphere' instead producing virtual music by numbers. As far as I'm concerned Wicklow Atwater has an abundance of everything required, putting them at the top of the generic tree with just a few others, in fact I would suggest if some of the great string bands of old could hear this band they would be impressed and accept them as peers.
The band comprises Billy Lupton on mandolin and vocals, Nick Lupton plays guitar, Jessica Alvillar, violin, Gilbert Montoya, banjo and vocals and David Archey is on harmonica and vocals. Most of the music for these seventeen original songs was a band effort, whereas David Archey wrote most of the lyrics and also sings lead on all but two of the songs which were written and sung by Gilbert Montoya. It is quite astounding to know that a young band born and raised nearly as far from the Appalachians as I was has such mastery and so much feeling for a music that was quite possibly not in their 'genes.'
It's not always easy to precisely work out the instrumentation but the album loses nothing by this; it's just the power of and hard driving enthusiasm for the music, with no muddying of the sound. Whilst many of the songs are played at break neck speed, instead of falling into the trap of playing everything at the same speed they vary the pace, often from one song to the next and with plenty of stylistic variations, something that sets them apart from their peers and makes the album such an addictive listen. There are not exactly any slow 'crooned' ballads but the variations are excellent and will always keep the listener off guard and wondering what comes next. Whilst David Archey's vocals always have a distinctive raw edge, as the album progressed it was nice to hear that he could just as easily cope with variations in tempo and style, albeit not straying too far, most of the time, from the bands upbeat up tempo fieriness.
The intro on the first song, Don't throw (my love away) is by way of the banjo that is soon joined by guitar, harmonica, mandolin and fiddle, along with the raw hard driving vocal. Different instruments take turns to be at the fore, all supported by some tremendous band harmonies on an excellent song. On Sleeping through (the good parts of the day) things slow a little with the guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica and keyboards leading in to the excellent, still raw, but melodic lead vocal with restrained harmonies and the song gradually picks up a little speed on an excellent tale of the conclusion of a love affair. It is different to what has gone before but despite the restraint it is still a song full of dynamism and fire, just stylistically a variation but the Wicklow Atwater sound is still in strong evidence! Come on over, albeit briefly, signals a complete change with a song, written by Gilbert Montoya, that has much more of a western swing meets vaudeville feel on this duet that is a little more restrained but still with the edgy vocals. The playing has more of a controlled feel with the fiddle, banjo and mandolin being a little 'smoother' although the duet vocals bring a strong humorous element. The banjo and fiddle start give I wanna be yer man an edgy 'gypsy jazz 'sound increased by the raw, slightly less throat shredding than Louis Armstrong, vocal but a song that has a powerful melody with some nice harmonies, with the excellent bass and fiddle used a little differently to the driving 'hillbillyness' of some of the songs on what is basically a strong love song, despite their highly individual take! On Infidelity there is a much slower start, with the acoustic guitar, joined by banjo, harmonica, bass guitar and then the vocal on a much slower 'story song' with mandolin joining in and some almost angelic harmonies bringing another welcome variation to this tremendous recording. Final mention goes to Don't wanna wait forever on which we are treated to another change in tempo and style on a song on which even the lead vocal is (a little!) smoother, as is the texture of the arrangement, with the usual excellent harmonies and the instrumentation much more restrained, almost smoothed out, exactly meeting this songs requirements. It has more of a contemporary 'country' structure although most will wonder, 'contemporary with who?' but it is a great song and beautifully performed, showing off the bands immense skills.
Prior to this debut full length album Wicklow Atwater had recorded and self released two e.ps, that having now heard them, are of a similar quality to this exceptional album. Their love and feel for playing in this loose, bordering on ambiguous, genre is obvious to all who hear them and as we're often told if you enjoy what you're doing you have a good chance of being good at it! I've always thought that the important elements of string band music are fairly obviously instrumental prowess and good songs, but would suggest that the vocals, unlike most musical strains, require enthusiasm and drive over 'perfect pitch,' culminating in the most important aspect of all; Atmosphere! In actual fact I'm not at all sure that artists such as top country singers like George Strait would be any good at playing in a 'string band.' The ragged, often seemingly ramshackle and usually untutored enthusiasm that is peculiar to some of the greats just wouldn't suit the highly disciplined 'country pop' style that seems to sell so well. Maybe Wicklow Atwater will be the band to break up the monotony of the charts!
http://wicklowatwater.bandcamp.com/