I know I’m late to the party with this review, the album was released back in June, 2008. However, their EP The Wreck is Not a Boat, containing a new version of that song plus three new songs was released March 29, 2009 and an even newer EP, Rivers is just out as of May 4. When I first heard Damien. Lessons From What’s Poor from the Sons of Noel & Adrian’s debut album, it struck me, rather, it smacked me upside the face with it’s sadness. Oh, this album aches of grief at first listen. But stick with it. There’s more lurking underneath. I’ve been soaking in it for weeks now and I can’t shake that deliciously melancholy feeling that you get from looking at far too many old photos and drinking far too much red wine.

Layered upon the quavering, deeply dark voice of Jacob Richardson are various and assorted stringed instruments, small tingly bits of sounds and smoothly flowing harmonies, all enlisted to showcase the remarkable song writing talents of this group. These are not little diddies with a clear ending. There are often lengthy introductions in these songs, building up to the vocals and then ending with a stomp. It all reminds me quite a bit of the music of country folk in the old days before bluegrass and commercial country music took over our consciousness. Those songs were the kind that had a meandering tune, sometimes a fleeting melody and oftentimes only the slightest hint of variance — to some sounding like a monotonous dirge. It was the instruments that carried the song, and the vocals that carried the message. I learned of this music from researching old labor tunes. Have you ever heard one of the early recordings of “Who’s Side Are You On?” It will shock your modern ear.

Sons of Noel and Adrian’s “Divorce” will destroy you with it’s lyrics. The female vocals in this tune swirl about the constant strum of a banjo and guitar, taking you through a viscerally sad tale of loneliness. I know it’s an overused term in music writing, but these kinds of folk tunes are what can only be described as “raw.” Even when using some standard conventions of folk music: repetition, delayed timing of phrases and refrains, three and four part harmonies in quiet tones, behind the instrumentation; Sons of Noel & Adrian manage to infuse folk music with intricate, modern emotions and sounds. Turn this up when listening to it; hear the jingle of a tambourine and the whine of a saw-like violin or viola. So many people make the mistake of using folk music as backdrop to something else instead of focusing on it as it’s meant to be heard. Folk music (like all music, I must say) was always a performative thing, a shared experience of real people in real places, celebrating or mourning or just marking time.

I’ve not had the luck to hear this group perform live. Those of my friends who have heard this group report being completely captivated with their sound. It’s not difficult to imagine that from this track, is it? A few weeks back The Waiting Room played “The Wreck is Not a Boat” and I was ensnared, I’ve not been able to put this album down since. I’m so glad that it’s receiving airplay here in the States, here’s hoping the group gets to come over as well!

However, I urge you to go out and purchase Rivers, it is absolutely wonderful, even with only three songs (and it’s in very limited production of only 300 vinyl) from One Inch Badge Records. Opening with “Black Side of the River,” you are completely swept away by swirling and swelling waves of stringed instrumentation before the picking begins and the vocals, a bit lighter this time around, feeling a bit smaller than their ten person lineup. It’s as if Richardson’s wistfully reminiscing in this story.  It’s very existential, just a few phrases with a dreamy quality to them. Big, Bad, Bold ascends to a dramatically built end, percussion in low bass tones casting a pleasant primitiveness before a dissonant finale. And the last and perhaps most beautiful track, “Leaving Mary’s Hand” has an almost lullaby feel. As in “The Wreck is Not a Boat” the whistling takes us to the fitting end of a wonderful tale.

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