American Catastrophe

Dec

9

American Catastrophe

Excerpts From The Bone Choir Hold your horses and holster those colts my American friends! I don’t want to rant about your president or Iraq. In fact i don’t want to talk about politics at all. I want to talk about music. And what fine music this is.

The name of the band is American Catastrophe. They are from Kansas City, Missouri. The band released their debut album in June this year and it is titled Excerpts From The Broken Bone Choir. It is very hard for me to not associate a title like that with 16 Horsepower. It is also very hard for me to not be extremely interested.

So when i found it on eMusic, i downloaded it immediately. I played the title track first and yeah! They do sound like 16 Horsepower! Or do they? There is no banjo or concertina to be heard and the voice of singer reminds me of Tom Waits or even Jim Morrison, but not David Eugene Edwards.

But the presence that this band has, definitely reminds me of 16 Horsepower. Listening to Excerpts From The Broken Bone Choir gives the same kind of sensation that you experience in the last seconds before a thunderstorm kicks in. This is an exciting record from start to finish. Only thing that one can moan about is the length of the album: 33 minutes. For me it is one of the reason why i find this album so enjoyable. It does not outstay its welcome. Or maybe i should say that Excerpts From The Broken Bone Choir is not just a collection of songs played by the same band. This is a 24 karat album like they used to make in the good old days of vinyl.

So if you if you enjoy listening to bands like 16 Horsepower, Godspeed! You Black Emperor or Joy Division, American Catastrophe might very well be your new favourite band. Especially now, in a season where the nights are long and dark.

Links: American Catastrophe on eMusic, American Catastrophe’s MySpace page