ELLIOTT BROOD – MOUNTAIN MEADOWS

With their rolling banjos, raucous harmonies, military rhythms, and literary sensibilities (imbued with a distinct whiff of the prairie), Canadian three-piece Elliott Brood belong to a tradition that stretches back to The Band, and beyond. They have a keen sense of history, and a knack for gothic imagery – see Fingers and Tongues, the opening track from their new album Mountain Meadows: “Oh, they weigh you down with the memories of our bones/And they bury you in the schoolyard with their finger and their thumbs”. The song references The Mountain Meadows massacre of 1857, but you don’t need to know that to appreciate the sheer Echo-and-the-Bunnymen-gone-bluegrass grandeur of the thing.  Frontman Mark Sasso’s vocals are a startling proposition. Reedy, high and rasping, they conjure up the image of an alt-country Jane’s Addiction. But in a good way. The arrangements are lean and inventive: the rueful Without Again features harmonica and big, glam-rock drums; Woodward Ave’s horns and woozy guitars suggest a drunken ticker-tape parade; and the dreamlike The Body blends hushed vocals,  acoustic guitar and field recordings.
***1/2