Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives

If you aren’t constantly elbow-deep in the vast world of mp3 blogs and webzines, and you don’t live in Texas, chances are you have yet to hear of one of Austin’s finest. Voxtrot only released their second EP weeks ago, but the band is already poised to “blow up,” as they say. With a mere ten songs in their collective output, Voxtrot has established a rock-solid foundation for a future in the music business, even if at this time it doesn’t seem like a full-length is in view on the horizon. Last year’s Raised by Wolves EP introduced Voxtrot’s mash-up of jangly guitar rock, youthful energy, and sincere song-craft to the land; a year later, Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives does the same but emanates the growth—both musically and lyrically—that the band has embraced since the last release. The maturity—I hesitate to use that word because Voxtrot constantly upholds a starry-eyed youngness in their songs—is evident, but the music never comes across as brash or contrived. The five tracks on Mothers Sisters, Daughters & Wives incorporate all of the band’s former strengths and are complemented with a throng of atypical rock instrumentation (violin, cello, French horn, trumpet) courtesy of guest musicians. The title track is the counterpart of the former EP’s opener—the most vivacious of the bunch, displaying the strongest hooks and most memorable chorus. “Fast Asleep” is another straight-forward rocker before diving headfirst into swelling strings and piano. “Rise Up in the Dirt” utilizes those same fundamentals for four minutes of twee-poppy excellence; “Four Long Days,” for some reason, brings the better days of Elton John to my mind, with Leah Zeger’s swirling violin harmonizing gorgeously with Ramesh Srivastava’s vocals. The closer of this all-too-short excursion, “Soft & Warm,” yields a brazen brass backbone from Nathan Stein and Matt Bricker, while the violin aids the melody Voxtrot isn’t the most original band in the world, but they cover up their weakness of uniqueness by making something that’s so good for what it is, that being excessively innovative becomes irrelevant. [www.voxtrot.net]