New London’s many faced folk quartet Roadside Attractions are set to release their debut EP Whispers through Cosmodemonic Telegraph this Friday Feb 12! I say many faced because not only have they had a whole slew of different members but their style has such a wide range. The EP starts off with a mellow Allman-esque rock song “You Ain’t Gonna” and is followed up by the title track which is a doom and gloom reggae number. Granted most of the other songs on the record are folk and country based but there are splashes of blues and rockabilly in the mix as well.
The musicianship on the record is awesome - the steady tight rhythm section of Jason Banta (bass) and Matt Gouette (drums) along with the fiddle and lead guitar work of Craig Edwards… you couldn’t hope for a better backdrop to lay your vocals on. The vocals are what most people are going to take away from this record and Daphne Glover has really become known for her sultry cabaret vocal stylings. The low calm tones can be soothing but when switching over to a louder chorus the vocals can at times come across as a bit apprehensive. Paul Brockett also lends his own brand of twang to “Campari” along with Paul Brockett Roadshow band mate David Anderson who plays the piano on this track like it’s straight out of an old west saloon. The mixing on the record is very well balanced and the production values are clean and slick like a freshly waxed kitchen floor. This allows for maximum intake of musical ability but can tend to make the atmosphere of the record a little sterile.
The one song not lacking for atmosphere is the banjo ballad “The Night We Fell in Love”. On top of the sparse music, they laid sounds of New London: trains, sirens, seagulls, etc. It’s a nice touch to a record with no other studio trickery. Whispers is a solid representation of what Roadside Attractions is all about and they should be happy to have been able to capture that on an album.