popwreckoning

There are a few bands that I take an unnatural pride in, and being a big advocate for local music, I hold the Lonely Forest near and dear to my heart. A band hailing from the Puget Sound town of Anacortes, Wa., The Lonely Forest has come quite a long way since winning the EMP Sound Off! Competition back in 2006. They’ve released two full-length albums with Burning Building Recordings, played countless shows all around the country and around Puget Sound, and gained a huge local following of young indie rock fans.

With their new release Arrows, The Lonely Forest worked with fellow Washingtonian Chris Walla as the first band signed to his Trans Records, and they put together a fantastic album full of hometown love, epic melodies and passionate performances.

Arrows begins softly with “Be Everything,” a lovely ballad that showcases frontman John Van Deusen’s tender vocals more than any other track on the record, and then it jumps right into the catchy and triumphant “Turn Off This Song And Go Outside.” The catchiness of the song is only matched by its irony, seeing that there’s no possible way that I’d want to turn off the song.

The divergent melodies and messages of “(I Am) The Love Skeptic” and “(I Am) The Love Addict)” are a nice addition to Arrows, but in the scheme of the whole thing, they’re nothing special. I prefer the “Love Skeptic” to the “Love Addict,” for the feisty hook and simple message, “We became too good of friends, and the bullshit, it never ends.” I mean, haven’t we all had one of those?

I feel that the strongest points of Arrows lay in the middle, with “Coyote” and “Tunnels.” The former is a dark and moving track with a killer bass line, and again a seemingly simple chorus line, “I wish you’d come back home, I want to hold your hand.” That’s one of the things I really love about the Lonely Forest – their songs are extraordinarily relatable. The lyrics aren’t overwrought, because the emotion behind them comes from the performance, not the pretentious prose that some bands can fall victim to.

Before I delve into the beauty that is “Tunnels,” let’s talk about “I Don’t Want To Live There.” It’s a song I’ve heard before on the EP that the Lonely Forest released earlier this year, but I have to reiterate how nice it is to have a song that’s so obviously rooted in the Pacific Northwest. It makes me feel proud to be a Washingtonian.

I’ve waited until now to talk about “Tunnels,” because I needed to build up to it, just like the song does so well.

Seriously, this song makes me so excited every time I hear it.  The fact that I get to sing along to the lyric, “obvious contradictions, childish self-afflictions,” is already good enough for me, but the every-growing energy of the song and wall of sound – especially the percussion – exemplifies how good each member of the band is at their craft. But the best part of the song comes in the last minute and a half, where it moves smoothly into the outro of “Ramshackle House,” which isn’t a track on its own on Arrows, but it was on the EP. Honestly, hearing the transition from “Tunnels” to “Ramshackle House” for the first time gave me goosebumps. It’s so perfectly done, and it makes so much sense. That was one concern I had when the EP released, “Where is this song going to go?” That concern flew out the window when I heard the entirety of “Tunnels.”

Arrows closes out just as strongly as it opens, with “Woe Is Me…I Am Ruined,” old hit “We Sing In Time” and the title track. “Woe Is Me” is far different than previous live versions, which were more acoustic, but it’s a perfect example of how good a producer Chris Walla is. He is another reason why I’m proud to be a Washingtonian.

Even though some people might find it weird that the Lonely Forest would put “We Sing In Time” on this album seeing that it was on their last release We Sing the Body Electric, I find it refreshing. The Lonely Forest doesn’t need to follow all the rules. The fans love the song. . And it was a completely different version, with deeper, richer recording and mixing.

The closing track, “Arrows” brings the album to a complete circle, with a softer song showcasing Van Deusen’s vocals and piano. It makes for a quiet close, rather than going out with a bang.

But really, Arrows reads more like a book, with the gradual rising action, the epic climax (“Tunnels,” duh), the much quicker falling action, and then finally the resolution.

And this is definitely one I’ll want to read over and over again.

Tour Dates:

For more information on the Lonely Forest, go to http://www.thelonelyforest.com/

Finding myself in Seattle on a night before I have a seven page paper due is not a common thing, but on this particular Tuesday, I ventured to Neumos in Capitol Hill to see Scottish band We Were Promised Jetpacks, accompanied by local sweetheart band The Lonely Forest and Bear Hands of Brooklyn.
I hadn’t been to Neumos in a good two years, so I forgot how intimate the venue was.  But it was quite obvious that a majority of the 16-year-old girls and boys were there to see The Lonely Forest, and the older crowd came out for We Were Promised Jetpacks, but Bear Hands held their own, truly being the opener.

They played songs off their debut EP Golden, as well as their second EP, What a Drag, released last month. “Can’t Stick Em” from the latter EP was my favorite of their set, with a driving tempo and vocalist Dylan Rau building from the softer harmonies at the beginning to getting stronger and louder to meet the gritty guitar riff. Actually listening back to it now, Rau’s voice reminds me a little of David Portner of Animal Collective, how it teeters on the edge of notes. So if you like fuzzed out guitars and multi-layered harmonies, check Bear Hands out.

After Bear hands finished their set, it was close to 10, so the anticipation for Lonely Forest got to build for 20 minutes. Surrounded by crazy fangirls and one even crazier fanboy, I filtered through my pictures from the last hour. Then at about 10:15, The Lonely Forest got on the tiny stage and immediately thanked the all-ages crowd. Playing a selection from last year’s debut critically acclaimed We Sing the Body Electric, as well as some new songs, The Lonely Forest kept the energy going throughout their set. By the 3^rd song, front man John Van Deusen was already sweating profusely from his temples, switching from keyboard to guitar. It’s just a testament to how passionate this band is about their music and about their fans. And it doesn’t hurt that they’re great musicians too. The Lonely Forest closed out their set with “We Sing In Time,” which made the whole room sing a long, especially the crazy fangirls standing up front with me.

I liked what I heard of the new songs, and they were more upbeat and sunnier than We Sing The Body Electric, but I didn’t grab the set list, so I have no idea what the titles were. Just keep your eyes peeled for their new songs, and possibly a new album in 2010.

By 11:20, my feet were sufficiently aching. Every so often when the security opened the side door the gust of wind provided a sudden bit of relief from hot and sweaty venue. After a very long intro of “A Half-Built House,” with dozens of loops of the same voice repeating numbers, We Were Promised Jetpacks finally came on stage and dove into “Keeping Warm” off These Four Walls. I haven’t been listening to We Were Promised Jetpacks for long, but I loved how casual they were. The four guys just walked up on stage and started playing. No grandiose entrance or anything, and they were awesome. It could be my bias for UK bands, but for some reason, the Scottish accent makes all songs sound so much cooler.

After the first few songs I made my way out of the crowded front to get some water, and I noticed that the crowd had completely changed. The young fans that came to see The Lonely Forest had dissipated and most of the people I weaved through were older, who’d come to see We Were Promised Jetpacks. It was almost midnight, so that could be why, since it was a school night. And still as I stood off to the side, We Were Promised Jetpacks had the same impact in this tiny venue as if I standing right up front.

Bravo, Scotsmen. Bravo.