“Your knees quiver with decisions that you never thought you’d face” – Hands Up
You can find a lot of really cool stuff on Craigslist these days. Scotty Dickert and Ariel Belkin (R.E.L.) found each other. R.E.L. answered an ad for a guitarist that Scotty placed, and Reasons Be was born.
The acoustic duo is releasing their debut EP, Hands Up, later this week and it’s sure to gain them some new fans. Though they are a guitar driven acoustic duo, there’s a pop-style instrumentation that can’t be denied.
All four songs are just so damned catchy and I’ve got a feeling that with some time, these guys could find their place in a genre that’s pretty crowded. The songwriting is strong, and while the production may be slightly more poppy than I prefer, it’s tough to deny that the talent is certainly there.
Hands Up
Carry Me Home
“I ride on through these dirty old towns And every road sign says, that you ain’t around” – Trucker’s Love Song
It’s been a while since I’ve throw up two posts in a day, but I had to share Lincoln Durham. I realize I’m a little behind as this album dropped back in January, but hey, better late than never. There’s a lot of great bluesy albums right now, including Chris Robinson’s new one and the debut release from Vintage Trouble, but Durham’s album sticks with me.
Using a nearly 85 year old guitar, Durham’s sound is as old and weathered as it is crisp. He’s also been known to add a suitcase to his live performance and the dude was a state youth fiddle champion in Texas at 10 years old. Vocally, he reminds me of Ray Lamontagne if Ray had a bit of a sore throat, and it sounds perfect. There are a lot of guys trying their hand at this genre right now, but few are as capable as Lincoln Durham.
Love Letters
Ballad of a Prodigal Son
“I can’t help we grew up too fast. Made ends meet with nothing to last” – Too Young Too Wise
I live in Boston – in the dead center of one of the most walkable major metropolitan areas of the country. I’m a 30 second walk to groceries, a 90 second walk to the bar and a 660 second walk to work. There’s absolutely no need for a car. The Quiet Hounds make me wish I had one.
Each morning as I walk through the city, I arm myself with noise cancelling headphones and have my favorite bands all to myself for ten minutes or so. It’s my very definition of happiness. QH’s new album, Megaphona, makes me feel like a selfish bastard when I do this though. This is an album that deserves to be played on road trips, it demands to be listened to with the windows rolled down. Not so that you can enjoy the lovely weather, but so that you do your part and share these magnificent songs with anyone within earshot. I mean, why not liven up someone else’s day? It’s too damned good to keep to myself.
Just like their previous release, this EP will be a staple on the iPod for quite some time. The band is giving it away on their site, so you’ve got no reason not to snatch it up. I featured “Calling All Gamma Rays” on the summer mixtape, but it’s my duty to add “I Get Up” to the mix. Enjoy.
I Get Up
You can find a lot of really cool stuff on Craigslist these days. Scotty Dickert and Ariel Belkin (R.E.L.) found each other. R.E.L. answered an ad for a guitarist that Scotty placed, and Reasons Be was born.
