Album Notes

"Every once in a while a great record will come along with so little fanfare, you'd almost think the artist was intentionally masking its release to keep the beauty all to themselves... 'This Car' is a melding of rockabilly, country, gospel, and roots. More descriptively, it's pure grease monkey rock armed with turquoise tail fins and Vaseline hair-dos. It bears the innocence of Whiskeytown's 'Faithless Street,' the wide-swing tremolo of X's 'Los Angeles,' and the simplicity of Springsteen's 'Nebraska,' complete with haunting harmonicas and earthquake whammy bar groans."
- Martin England, "The Portsmouth Herald/Spotlight Magazine"

"The Seacoast Scene can lay claim to a hotbed of roots rock, so when two of its leading members, Martin England and Jon Nolan, agree on the next big band, you might want to pay attention ... both recently raved about the Molenes, an alt-country outfit who managed to stay pretty far under the radar until releasing their debut full-length, This Car is Big, this past Tuesday. I can see where they’re coming from."
- Sam Pfeifle, "Portland Phoenix"

"A solid dose of top down, windows open, dirt road kind of Americana. The best thing about this disc is that you can hum along to most of the songs after just one listen, but each subsequent spin releveals more than was initially apparent... Unquestionably a winner."
- Kevin Finn, "The Noise"

Blending hard twang, swaggering alt-country, swamp rock, and melodic jangle-pop, The Molenes offer original songs that hook you from the start with compelling melodies and addictive rhythms. Dave Hunter (vocals & guitars), Thomas Ferry (Hammond, guitar & vocals), Andrew Russell (bass & vocals) and Andy Beale (drums & vocals) share a wealth of experience gained in the music scenes of the Seacoast and further afield, but together as The Molenes they present a driving, dynamic whole that's a hell of a lot more than the sum of its parts.

Kansas-born, Cincinnati-raised, Dave Hunter was a founding member of the London-based indie band Drugstore (Go Discs and Roadrunner Records). After scoring a Melody Maker magazine "Single Of The Week" with their debut release, landing on bills with The Flaming Lips and other major artists, and gracing critics' "Top 10" lists across Europe, Dave left the band to devote time to his own playing and songwriting. Dave returned to the Seacoast in the summer of 2004, and The Molenes took root soon after...