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Yonder Boys – Acid Folk

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Yonder Boys - Acid Folk

Yonder Boys - Acid Folk
3.4

Rating

 3.4/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Strong instrumentalists
  • Very interesting, often ironic lyrics
  • Some good songs

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Some tracks are just too experimental
  • Likely stronger on stage than in the studio

The Yonder Boys are definitely an interesting, but also kind of weird and funny combo, which is based in Germany, but in fact do not have a German band member at all. On 25th September 2020, they will release their debut album Acid Folk. Here is my review.

 

Yonder Boys – About The Artists

Already the setup of the Yonder Boys is quite interesting. The trio contains of three members from three continents. Jason Serious (vocals, guitar) is US-American, David Steward Ingleton (vocals, banjo) is from Australia, while Tomas Peralta, who is playing several instruments is Chilean. They formed the Yonder Boys after meeting in Berlin and already have quite a fan base in Europe after they had a long tour through various European countries. The band released a debut EP, Yonder Boys, in 2018.

 

Yonder Boys – Acid Folk – Track by Track

Acid Folk contains ten songs. Two of them are interpretations of folk classics. The total playing time is 34 minutes.

1. Rabbit Song

The Rabbit Song is a five minute starter to Acid Folk. The song is definitely uptempo, a weird collection of instruments and different sounds, very straightly recorded. Some sort of statement like “We are the Yonder Boys and that’s what we are doing”. Run, Rabbit, Run – I won’t say it is about the music that the furry guy should flee… But the track is definitely not an easy starter for me. To make things worse, it is the longest track of the album.

2. Mumma’s Boy

After the Rabbit Song was some sort of shocker, Mumma’s Boy feels much more reasonable to me. Nice bluegrass sounds, again presented in quite high speed. Nice melodic track.

3. Eagle Song

The Eagle Song is the slowest song so far, driven by acoustic guitar sounds. A mixture of country and folk music, which here and then brings some surprising pop-ups of other instrumentation.

4. New Bohemians

Homesick in Munich
Can’t pay the rent
Can’t go back home
under this new president.
I’m still inventing
my own way to live
working it out on
a bus to Berlin.

Quite a characteristic way how the Yonder Boys create their lyrics and stories. This story about their voyage to Germany is put on bluegrass music with choir-alike vocals. This makes New Bohemians to me to the most catching track on the album so far.

5. The Great American Pussy Grab

After the lyric I stated above, the second reference to the political reference in the United States. Very satiric, the sound of the music feels like a travel back in time. I even feel a slight touch of the Beach Boys in here.

6. Look At What You Done

Look At What You Done is an extremely quick, but also entertaining track, which illustrate the instrumental strengths of the band. The song makes you feel like dancing (if you have quick feet…). Good one.

7. High on a Mountain

Even some brass sounds alongside harmonica in High on a Mountain – I love the way the Yonder Boys mix different instruments, but still create a quite consistent sound. High on a Mountain is another track I could imagine to be a lot of fun on stage. Nice one!

8. Mosey on Down

Mosey on Down uses a trumpet sound, is comparably slow, but has a nice groove. Feels like a Western movie track. Nice how the story is evolving within the 4:20 minutes as well.

9. House Carpenter

The Scottish folk classic, interpreted in the Yonder Boys way. A bit of weird, maybe even psychedelic.

10. Il Pesce Spada

According to the promotion information of the album, the band wrote this one on their tour through Sicily. At least, the swordfish is definitely praised too rarely in the world of music. Melodically much better than the rabbit, but overall, the animal track highlight of the album stays the Eagle Song to me.

 

Yonder Boys – Acid Folk – Spotify

Here is the Spotify widget to Acid Folk:

 

Yonder Boys – Acid Folk – My View

No doubt, the Yonder Boys do have a lot of musical potential. Sometimes, they create lovely songs (like the Eagle Song or New Bohemians), sometimes, they just push their potential too hard to the limits (like at the Rabbit Song). The album contains a lot of tracks which will be fun on stage, I am sure. But overall, there are too unfortunately to many disturbing, too experimental elements in the album. Definitely in the upper half of music releases, but also quite a piece away from the top.

 

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