What does it sound like?:

There is something deeply moving about a pair of men singing together in harmony. Solo, there is a tendency to a display of dominant ego and macho bravado, even aggression. Tender moments can be few. A duo can support each other enough to expose vulnerabilities and overcome flaws and weakness. Fragility becomes a strength. Emotions resonate. A duo can more easily speak to truth, to a baring of the soul. At least until the pair of them fall out.

Joey Ryan plays a 1951 Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar while Kenneth Pattengale performs on a 1954 Martin 0-15 and their voices intertwine sweetly. For this, their fifth album, they’ve added a full band. They like a Country twinge, a weeping pedal steel, a mournful violin and aren’t adverse to strings, a sonorous cello or a saxophone. They even invite guest vocalists, Laura Lou and Logan Ledger, in an attempt to liven things up.

For the most part, the pace is funereal, the tone melancholy. There is much skill and craft to admire, especially on the extended guitar duel for the ten minute long One For The Road. There are moments when the piano could … Continue reading The Milk Carton Kids – All The Things That I Did and All The Things That I Didn’t Do