Heal (studio album) by Strand Of Oaks

From buzzdainer 04/20/2019 21:06

“I was just an Indiana kid, getting no one in my bed,” sings Timothy Showalter on "JM," “but I had your sweet tunes to play.” That song recounts long afternoons spent rebelling against his parents, smoking in his car, hating all his friends, and playing JM’s sweet tunes at presumably high volume. The guitars swell and crash around him, then lumber into the kind of crunchy jam that once upon a time had teenage misfits pumping fists or raising lighters in unison. At the time I guessed that the song might be about J Mascis, the guitar god who most made sense to me given Showalter's age and aesthetic. Showalter has since disclosed that the song’s true subject is Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Company frontman Jason Molina. “JM” is a moving tale of extreme adolescent alienation, alleviated only by the narrator’s identification with a rock hero, in this case one whose recent suicide made him all the more relatable, real, and poignant.

From imimesis 01/07/2016 06:47

There is a lot of good-ole-boys country rock in this album. I'll be return to this for further assessment as to its brilliance. Strong, solid offering from this artist that I would like to hear more of.