Release Date: 2003
Website: www.cheyennesongs.com
Cheyenne
- You Talk Like You've Seen a Ghost
Matthew Ralph
A couple years ago a Tulsa, Okla. band by the name of Lasso
unofficially released the kind of debut that doesn't come along all
that often. Warm, tender songs that leaned toward the indier side of
alt-country.
I played the CD-R copy I had of the release to death — it became the
official CD of my summer camping trips that year and consequently took
a lot of abuse and now barely plays through a song without a skip. More
or less a project of Tim Miser, he's since released the album
officially on Flat Earth records and the rest of the band that backed
him have gone onto other projects - Jeff Shoop to Ester Drang and Beau
Jennings to a new solo project named after an Indian tribe native to
Oklahoma.
This four-song E.P. was released independently on CD-R in similar
fashion to that first release of Jennings' past project, but something
about the no frills approach to the reproduction and production of the
songs contained adds to its personal feel. Listening to the songs,
which layer distant soothing sounds behind a minimal acoustic guitar,
it's easy to put yourself in a dorm room in college or a cabin in the
woods. Still, the songs avoid that singer/songwriter quality much in
the way that Mike Kinsella has done on his two recordings under the
name Owen. In fact, a comparison to Owen seems a fair one to make. The
members of Ester Drang have something to do with that — the backing
instrumentation adding a cinematic feel to the already ethereal dim
vocals of Jennings.
Though just a small snapshot of what Jennings has in store with his new
project, it's a good sign of what could be in store for yet another
little known act from Oklahoma that deserves more than a passing glance
or suspicious stare.
posted 01.19.04
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Matt Ralph has bags full of bad CD's. Add to his collection at matt@tangzine.com
2002-2004 White Elephant
Productions