Kevin Bronson on March 25th, 2013

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As the Milk Carton Kids, Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan have parlayed the simple vehicles of two voices and two acoustic guitars into something much greater. Just for grins, let’s call it “raconteurism.” From their early days as Hotel Café regulars, the pair found a special chemistry in their collaborations – folk music in the tradition of duos such as Simon & Garfunkel, storytelling in the tradition of, well, anybody who can share a little wisdom whilst tuning his guitar. Having started by releasing a live album and then their free collection titled “Prologue,” the Kids this week release their debut for Anti- Records, “The Ash & Clay,” a 12-song collection woven from classic cloth. Leading up to the release, director Julian T. Pinder has made three videos that are poignant in their simplicity – people driving around in their cars listening to music. “It looks like nothing’s happening when really everything in the world is happening at that moment,” Ryan told Time.com, where the video for “Honey, Honey,” which stars Amanda Seyfried, premieried. Indeed, we’ve been known to clear our head that way.

||| Live: The Milk Carton Kids perform Wednesday at Largo on a night that will feature collaborations with Ed Helms, Tom Brosseau, Joe Henry, Over The Rhine, Joe Purdy, Jill Sobule and other guests. They also do an in-store at Amoeba on Tuesday.

||| Previously: “Michigan.” “Retrospect” live album.

||| Also: After the jump, check out the videos for “Snake Eyes” and “the Ash & Clay”: