i still dream of running careless through the snow..

i think that what i am loving most about blitzen trapper is that they cannot be categorized. are they country? are they rock? are they that word that i hate, "alt-country"? garage rock? experimental? who knows, and does it even really matter? i think the reason i can't stand to listen to the radio (KEXP excluded, for the most part) is that so many of the songs sound alike. i'm not interested in hearing the 90s again ad nauseum.

this band has a crazy number of musicians. i think i counted 3 guitarists and at least two keyboard players. and at the risk of sounding like a fan girl (which i'm not! i swear!) i think i am a little bit in love with the lead singer. i can't believe i just wrote that...

they released their first few albums independently, and then got signed by sub pop (hence their appearance at the 20th anniversary festival), and their new album will be out later this month. i think that the songs that they said were new ones sounded a little bit mellower and less obviously rock oriented. one of the songs on the album, furr, is on the free compilation sub pop gave out for their birthday.

oh, and they're from portland. i hope they come back here soon. aside from great music, they were a whole lot of fun to watch. a lot of their songs were suited to clapping along (but NOT in an annoying way), and don't you just have to love a guitar player who plays an enthusiastic cow bell for one of the songs? after seeing them in july, i put their last album, wild mountain nation, on my ipod and i listen to it most days on my way to work, and the songs can't help but put a smile on my face. i don't know if it's the singer's voice, or the lyrics, or the music itself - or probably a combination of all three..

wild mountain nation. they are, literally, a wall of guitars. awesome. and i love the singer's hand motions. does the beginning of this song make anyone else want to sing, signs, signs everywhere there's signs.... what song is that even from??


country caravan.


p.s... here are my bumbershoot pictures. you can tell what bands i liked because i have the most pictures of them (minus the bear, the whigs, tapes n tapes). i would have more of blitzen trapper, but my camera batteries died. i will never buy walgreens brand again.