Larry and His Flask are back after five years off and by God does 2018 need the power, passion and downright joy the band from Bend, Oregon infuse into all 20 million (approximately) notes of triumphant return This Remedy.
Wasting no time the record bursts into life with ‘Atonement’, a frenzied, gypsified take on the infectious folk rock template which has won the band plaudits across the board and on both sides of the pond thanks to their Xtra Mile affiliation. Brimming with energy, vocalist Ian Cook bounces off a full arsenal of instruments to sing “if you’re looking for atonement, find it yourself, there’s no-one to help” and that’s quite possibly true – the Oregon quintet probably aren’t in it to save your soul and offer redemption, they’re here to give you cramp in your legs and lockjaw from the perma-grin This Remedy will spread right across your chops.
Some of the record’s finest moments come from the folk rock needle being pushed into the red, as on lead single ‘Ellipsis’, but the sheer quantity of tones on offer means that when the raucous country riffage of ‘You Won’t’ charges round the corner there is not even the ghost of a batted eyelid. Is it because the electric guitar is eased in via the soulful ‘Hoping Again’ and the slinky intro motif on ‘Dearly Departed’ or is it simply down to the fact that the unexpected is pretty much all you can expect from the self-styled post-Americana outfit? I suspect it’s the latter, so it’s not even a stretch to soak up the knees-up flamenco flavours on ‘Behind the Curtain’. But when things are more straight ahead – as on the brooding Mumford & Sons-esque title track and the genuinely beautiful acoustic twirl of ‘The Place That It Belongs’ – there is no drop in quality and no suggestion that the band have to fall back on the dynamic fusing of genres to keep ahead of the game.
It’s been a difficult year and while This Remedy won’t solve all the world’s ills it is a wonderful way to escape from the world and spend 50 minutes inside the boundless imaginations of five seriously talented musicians – really, what more could you ask for?
It’s been a difficult year and while This Remedy won’t solve all the world’s ills it is a wonderful way to escape from the world and spend 50 minutes inside the boundless imaginations of five seriously talented musicians – really, what more could you ask for?
This Remedy is out now on Xtra Mile Recordings