Dry The River - Shallow Bed
Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 4:34PM
The charged and blustery songs of Dry The River may signal a nod towards a Mumford and Sons-styled strumfest but despite a pastoral fiddle line here or three-part harmony there, the London band is more like British pub/folk on steroids. Their commanding and confident debut Shallow Bed (April 17 U.S.), produced by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), hums below the mostly acoustic surface with punkish, post-core energy, taking the songs of founding frontman Peter Liddle and coloring -- make that splashing -- them with intense, bold strokes. "New Ceremony" may begin with some gentle acoustic picking and Liddle's sandy croon but things suddenly take a dramatic turn, the band kicks in with a fury and by the time the infectious chorus hits full throttle you can practically feel the roof being raised. Things settle down a tad on "Shaker Hymns" and "Bible Belt" but it isn't long before the laid-back start of "Weights & Measures" gets gradually darker, louder and more muscular, Liddle and band harmoniously crowing the song's final verses to the heavens.
Dry The River - "New Ceremony" (from Shallow Bed)
Dry The River - "Weights and Measures" (from Shallow Bed)
Reader Comments (3)
Yesss, Dry the River! Just sampled the album with this interactive booklet. http://bit.ly/ypD2lD/. "Shallow Bed" is commanding, confident and all of those great things. Makes me even more anxious for it to debut in April!
DRY the River is amazing!! Have you guys seen their video for "Weights & Measures"??!! It's brilliant: http://vevo.ly/x5CI9s
All these videos blew me away. Especially Weights and Measures! Shallow Bed is gonna be so awesome. Check them out at SXSW: http://bit.ly/FQ6r1z