Not that I am getting on board the Rural Alberta Advantage late, but I am getting on board late.  I have been listening for about 6 months now, but haven’t posted prior – maybe I felt with myself being in Alberta made it kind of hokey.  Well hokey or not, The RAA deserve a play or two around any home, work, festival and barn dance – it is the kind of indie folk rock that digs deep and can rock the house down if you let it.  With the band not really being Albertan based in actuality, the music still does ring true with a lot of their songs.  It is just weird and oddly comforting at the same time to sing along to songs like “Edmonton”, “The Dethbridge in Lethbridge” and “The Ballad of the RAA” as they are real places and the references among the lyrics ring true – these are not just song names and descriptions of imagined locales to this blogger.

I have included two tracks from their website and both are stellar – “Don’t Haunt This Place” is a bit more mellow (not crazy Slowcoustic mellow, just mellow-er), but “Frank, AB” is an absolute killer.  Just that last full minute of the song when Nils Edenloff is singing about the mine collapse in Frank, Alberta – it sends chills into me and little hairs on my arm come to life when he punches out “…they’ll build up another, on the bodies of our brothers…” – soo good.  I know it has been said before about the similarity of vocal delivery of Mangum (of Neutral Milk Hotel infamy) and Edenloff, and if this is a similarity that you enjoy, the RAA deliver something that can’t be beat.

I had to be reminded to post this and it was mostly due to the Hear Ya blog and the fact that yesterday they put up their live session with the band and it is a must see/listen.  You can also download a very conveniently zipped copy of the session’s mp3s – this makes me happy as there is even a new “untitled” song!  So go HERE to check it out at Hear Ya, and don’t say I didn’t let you know.

Pick up a copy of “Hometowns” over at eMusic and Amazon.

~Smansmith