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Kill County

Dust In Wire

Written by: PP on 25/10/2013 00:20:50

Nebraska. Why does it not surprise me to find Nebraska as the home state of Kill County, whom the PR material describes as "genuine, whiskey soaked country/folk music". My US-based friends tell me there isn't much of anything in Nebraska, but that's precisely the point. Music this heartfelt and warm, this genuine and this somber simply can't exist in as natural form as it does on "Dust In Wire", their debut album.

This is basically the record Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music fame has been trying to write all along, and he's come pretty darn close with his golden throat helping him along the way. Here, the harmonica-fueled alt-country songs depict lonesome fields into as far away as you can see, and the easy-going lifestyles of places that generally just don't have that much going on compared to the epicenters of the world. That's why this record has its own beautiful charm, most of all because of the whiskey-drenched voice of their vocalist blending in perfectly to the country folk instrumentation. This is the sound of "freedom, fuck yeah" without the negative connotation that the sentence normally brings. This is the cowboys on horsebacks riding from saloon to saloon type of classic Western vibe, executed as flawlessly as it comes on record. The harmonica that I mentioned before comes and goes as it pleases, featuring more as a mood instrument rather than as a driving force of the songs. The calm strumming of the acoustic guitar, the gentle banjo/mandolin companion, and the nostalgia-driven, deep vocals drive the whole expression home in an awe-inspiring manner.

"Shitty Truck" is the obvious highlight track on the record, but songs like "Brown Lee", "1805am", and well, pretty much any track on the album will put you into that relaxed mood, free of any stress and cares of the real world so to say. "Dust In Wire" is certainly the best album I've heard in the alt-country category in years, and a must-own for any fan of the more acoustic, relaxed music than what we normally cover on this site. Brilliant stuff.

Download: Shitty Truck, Brown Lee, My Friend Dirt
For the fans of: Chuck Ragan, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Bob Dylan,
Listen: Facebook

Release date 15.04.2013
Self-Released