The Snow Droppers - Moving Out Of Eden (14/10/2013)
Moving Out Of Eden is the second full LP by New South Wales, 4 piece, The Snow Droppers. Veterans of the pub rock scene in Australia, Moving out of Eden is a much more mature and definite move into the blues-rock genre for the boys from Sydney.
A quick Google search to find more information about the band, lead me to the song Rosemary, from their debut album, Too Late to Pray. This catchy but raw ode enticed me to check out the new album. Moving out of Eden has a lot of highs and not a lot of lows. Clever writing, a confident air and a fantastic array of musical variety have culminated into loud, rough, funny and an unapologetic addition to the blues of old and new.
Quite possibly the only let down of the album is the opening track Excavating. It’s not that it’s a bad song; maybe only that it’s not the one to open an album with. It is the type of song that an impatient listener may skip over which isn’t ideal for the first track on an album.
Conversely, the second song So Much Better has a catchy hook and is an honest recount of a fractured relationship. The course guitar chords and faint clanging of the banjo in the background could possibly make it a better fit for the opening slot.
The main track that really stood out to me was Another Lover. I felt like I was settling down into the middle of just another cd by another band, when all of a sudden I’m slapped in the face with the words “I need another lover like I need a fucking hole in the head”. Dumb struck, I was persuaded to really tune into this album. My favourite song of the album White Dress, while still holding many elements of the blues, strays from the generic path of a blues song and embraces many other elements of rock and roll and indie rock. Using the off beat and with lead singer Johnny Wishbone’s voice stretching into falsetto; White Dress is definitely a foot stomper that will appeal the masses (even my girlfriend).
While not every song is as memorable, the humorous lyrics and harsh sound of guitar blending well with the shrill of a harmonica and jangling banjo keep your head nodding. While listening to Moving out of Eden I have to constantly remind myself that I am not listening to The Living End. As much as I love that band, I feel that The Snow Droppers have a long way to go to really finding their own individual sound – which is what they need to do if they really want to make a stamp on this genre and not get lost in sprawl that is - better than average bands.
Moving Out of Eden is an album I really enjoyed listening to. It isn’t an album that has struck me though. It’s an album that I would gladly recommend to a friend if they saw it in my cd rack but it wont make you run to your friend, grab him on his shoulders and shout at him, “You need to hear this”. Then again, this is only a chapter in what hopefully will be a very successful career. This band and this sound have a lot of potential and I will continue to follow The Snow Droppers as they continue to mature.
Sebastian Cooper
A quick Google search to find more information about the band, lead me to the song Rosemary, from their debut album, Too Late to Pray. This catchy but raw ode enticed me to check out the new album. Moving out of Eden has a lot of highs and not a lot of lows. Clever writing, a confident air and a fantastic array of musical variety have culminated into loud, rough, funny and an unapologetic addition to the blues of old and new.
Quite possibly the only let down of the album is the opening track Excavating. It’s not that it’s a bad song; maybe only that it’s not the one to open an album with. It is the type of song that an impatient listener may skip over which isn’t ideal for the first track on an album.
Conversely, the second song So Much Better has a catchy hook and is an honest recount of a fractured relationship. The course guitar chords and faint clanging of the banjo in the background could possibly make it a better fit for the opening slot.
The main track that really stood out to me was Another Lover. I felt like I was settling down into the middle of just another cd by another band, when all of a sudden I’m slapped in the face with the words “I need another lover like I need a fucking hole in the head”. Dumb struck, I was persuaded to really tune into this album. My favourite song of the album White Dress, while still holding many elements of the blues, strays from the generic path of a blues song and embraces many other elements of rock and roll and indie rock. Using the off beat and with lead singer Johnny Wishbone’s voice stretching into falsetto; White Dress is definitely a foot stomper that will appeal the masses (even my girlfriend).
While not every song is as memorable, the humorous lyrics and harsh sound of guitar blending well with the shrill of a harmonica and jangling banjo keep your head nodding. While listening to Moving out of Eden I have to constantly remind myself that I am not listening to The Living End. As much as I love that band, I feel that The Snow Droppers have a long way to go to really finding their own individual sound – which is what they need to do if they really want to make a stamp on this genre and not get lost in sprawl that is - better than average bands.
Moving Out of Eden is an album I really enjoyed listening to. It isn’t an album that has struck me though. It’s an album that I would gladly recommend to a friend if they saw it in my cd rack but it wont make you run to your friend, grab him on his shoulders and shout at him, “You need to hear this”. Then again, this is only a chapter in what hopefully will be a very successful career. This band and this sound have a lot of potential and I will continue to follow The Snow Droppers as they continue to mature.
Sebastian Cooper