Reviews | Hand Drawn Mountains – Old Fires | Indie Vision Music

Hand Drawn Mountains – Old Fires

Posted by Scott.L on May-22-2009 | Filed under Reviews | Bookmark or Share

Hand Drawn Mountains – Old Fires

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Band: Hand Drawn Mountains
Title: Old Fires
Label: N/A
Release Date: 2009
Review By: Scott L

Tracklisting:

01. This Earth A Choir
02. Every Man The Same
03. Six Feet Under Me Under The Willow Tree
04. Oil And Water
05. Family Tree
06. Happiness

Hand Drawn Mountains is a 6-piece out of Pennsylvania that plays indie rock with a heavy dose of country. Sounding at times like a poor man’s REM, at other times like All Get Out, and at still other times almost indefinable… like on “The Earth A Choir” when half way through the song what sounds like the brass section of a high school marching band spontaneously erupts. Tough to label indeed. I’m not sure that I’d go as far as to call Hand Drawn Mountains Americana. And I probably wouldn’t label them as alt-country either. But if you could somehow meld those two styles together… it would be somewhere in the ballpark.

Hand Drawn Mountains consists of 4 guys and 2 gals. Their 6-song EP “Old Fires” shows great potential and has some very enjoyable moments. The instrumentation is all pretty good. Aside from the standard guitar, bass, and drums… you’ll find a tambourine, harmonica, and what I’ll assume is a xylophone of some sort. Most everything fits in well in the context of the style. As a whole though, some of the songs come off a little bit jumbled in places. However, I would blame that more on a somewhat muddy mix rather than the bands song-crafting ability.

Lyrically, “Old Fires” contains some heartfelt songs with obviously spiritual messages. The only downside here was that some of the songs tended to get a bit repetitive and the delivery got a little rough around the edges. You can tell what they’re shooting for, but sometimes they come up short. Again, I think that a better mix would smooth a lot of this out.

Standout track was “Family Tree”. Just an all around good song. I particularly dug the vocals that closed it out.

Overall: Hand Drawn Mountains is a band to watch. Particularly if you’re into indie rock with some twang. This CD isn’t lousy by any means, but a boost in production could really level things out. Still, it’s definitely worth a listen as is. I look forward to seeing more from them. And, hey, do them a favor and go vote for them to play Cornerstone.

www.myspace.com/handdrawnmountains

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6 Responses

Carrie says:

May 26, 2009 at 8:50 am

Hand Drawn Mountains is authentic…I think that’s what I love about them…seeing them live you really “get” what they’re all about, which seems to be a true desire to put something unique, original and passionate out there for their fans. They definitely, however, have a smear of familiarity to some other great historical indie bands. I’m looking forward to seeing where they go…

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Sean says:

May 27, 2009 at 4:58 pm

6/10!? You must be crazy. They’re so much more than “indie with some twang” I hope you don’t review for a living.

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Scott.L says:

May 29, 2009 at 1:10 pm

Sean – Ouch! So much for my right to an opinion. :-) But you’ll be pleased to know that I don’t review music for a living. Just for fun on the side. I have learned however that you can’t please everyone. And I guess… you’re “everyone.”

Anyway, I just got an e-mail from the band, who want to thank everyone that voted for them. They are stocked to announce that they did win… and will be playing Cornerstone this year!!

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Scott.L says:

May 29, 2009 at 1:11 pm

Sorry… that’s “stoked”… i.e. excited, happy, jumping up and down, that kinda thing…

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tyler h says:

June 2, 2009 at 10:03 am

zomg scott! you didn’t give someone’s favorite band a 10!?!?! you fool!
just don’t screw up and give tfk a 6, their fans will eat your liver!

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Scott.L says:

June 5, 2009 at 2:12 am

Honestly, I’d probably give TFK somewhere around a 3 or a 4. On every album. I’ve never been too impressed with them. A song here or there, but they could be so much more if they tried. Although I did like the press kit they sent out with their original CD way back before they got signed. It came in this weird red plastic box and had these cool cards with it. And, hey, lucky for me I lost my liver in an industrial accident as a child.

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