Oakley Hall - I'll Follow You
Reviewed by mike
On their fourth album in three years and first for Merge, Brooklyn's Oakley Hall irresistibly traverse the fine line between time-honored folk-rock and modern alt-country in a mix that's an occasional cross between the sincerity of Whiskeytown and the fire of The Black Crowes with a hint of Buffalo Springfield, although each track seems like a visit to a new swampy backwoods town. Their sound is incredibly rich, with soaring melancholic male-female harmonies on top of roots-y guitars, front-porch violins and Neil Young-esque banjo picking; it's a relaxed tone, but not the slightest bit apathetic, resulting in the sextet named after the famed American novelist feeling a lot more Macon than they do Manhattan. [www.oakleyhall.net]