WILLAMETTE WEEK
... The group—which sounds a bit like Band of Horses without all the studio bells and whistles—trades in chord progressions and drum patterns normally associated with summery pop groups, but your takeaway emotion will likely be melancholy. It’s a neat trick, actually: The record’s stark, slightly seasick sheen calls more attention to the Historians’ understated twang than to its tom or kick drum (the percussion floats in a mist somewhere behind the track). That, combined with frontman Dave Shur’s achingly pure vocal approach, gives tracks like opener “Flathead Lake” and “Old King Crow” a rustic, AM-pop feel often tapped into by bands like R.E.M. and Okkervil River. But it’s “On the Way Home” that reveals Future Historians’ true colors: Sad bastards through and through. It’s working out for them. CASEY JARMAN
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