Download: The Stripminers, ‘She’s Not There’
Kevin Bronson on
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The all-star assembly doing business as the Stripminers staked out a lot of musical turf on their March debut “Movies,” which quick-cut to punk, Americana and garage-rock and made it all sound pretty natural. Considering the players, neither the album’s sonic breadth nor its crisp execution was surprising – the band’s roster includes Brett Anderson (the Donnas), Paul Stinson (the Radishes), DJ Bonebrake (X and others), Scrote (Daniel Johnston, Puscifer), Brett Simons (Brian Wilson, Melissa Etheridge) and Holland Greco (the Peak Show and others). No surprise, either, that the Stripminers [pictured above at the New L.A. Folk Fest] have been busy: They’ve readied their second album of 2012 for release. “Frail Hope Ranch” (due Nov. 13) sticks more to a common sonic geography we’ll call country noir. Single “The Twins” features Anderson and Stinson on tag-team vocals; “The Captive” is a compelling 12-minute slice of musical cinema; and, just in time for Halloweeen, there’s a Zombies cover. Well done.
||| Download: “She’s Not There”
||| Stream: “The Twins”:
||| Live: The Stripminers celebrate the release of “Frail Hope Ranch” with an intimate show on Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Echo Country Outpost.
||| Previously: “Like a Harp”
Photo by Carl Pocket
“Much popular music is hollow professionalism ”“ musicians and record producers recycling ideas and styles most likely to sell records. The memorable artists redefine the boundaries, either through blinding originality or by looking with unbending honesty at their deepest fears and grandest dreams.”
Robert Hilburn, July 22, 2006