The Awful Truth
Birthright
Self-Released
Street: 08.01
The Awful Truth = Neutral Milk Hotel + Jose Gonzalez
Whether it’s intentional or a happy accident, the release date of Birthright seems very well timed to me. By this, I mean it’s possibly one of the best fall albums I’ve heard in a while from a local artist. Tracks like “Words Were in the Way” (featuring guest vocals from locals like Joe Castor from Mathematics Et Cetera and Jess Davis from S.L.F.M.) provide decreasingly warm and sunny foundations sided with loping percussion and navel-gazing lyrics. “Birthright” is a rewarding ace-in-the-hole track, which showcases ‘90s indie rock sensibilities without renouncing the album’s core sound. Band frontman Brent Colbert manages to empathetically craft hypnotizing songs within the conventions of folk without having to rewrite any rules. Even though the local folk scene is a highly contested one, Birthright gives The Awful Truth the extra bump in stature that helps them stick out from the rest.