Antler - S/T
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Antler is a Boston based supergroup with an astounding heavy rawk pedigree. Members of Roadsaw, Quitter, Random Road Mother, and Quintaine Americana abound, so it’s no surprise that when you put this much boozy talent in one place, a great and noble noise emerges. It is a stretch, however, to say that Antler are “heavy”, at least in the purely sonic sense. Emotionally, well, that’s different. “Antler”-the-album hits ya like a rainy Sunday afternoon, melancholy and reflective, redolent of coffee and cigarettes and long, dramatic pauses followed by sudden half-smiles. It’s full of truth and charm and a surprising amount of tenderness, and it hits you where it really counts- deep in the dark and smoky confines of yr ragged heart.

Musically, it’s pretty tremendous as well, just different from what you’d expect from this gang of arena rock bruisers. It reminds me of the gray flecks in my beard, ya know, an entirely vintage kinda fuzz. Opener “Tombstones and Cigarettes” is a Southern rock ballad fuelled by acoustic scrapings and Craig Riggs’ raspy cowboy drawl. His plaintive refrain- “We leave tombstones and cigarettes behind” – is such a simple and poetic declaration that it lingers for days, and honestly, this is really a world class song. Fuckin’ Skynrd coulda wrote this song, and self-tortured hillbillies woulda shot themselves in the thralls of whiskey stupors if they did. “1975” is a creepy-cool ode to a found postcard from days gone by, and it’s wistful and quiet and sounds like one of those really good stories that you only remember at like, 4 AM, when there’s no one around to tell it to. “Blood on the Moon” is the bonafide arena rock monster, Deep Purple and Grand Funk riffin’ on the ultimate biker-blues superjam. The catchy, organ-driven hard rocker “Dead By Valentines” is like a thunderous stonerrock ballad, if stonerrock was invented 35 years ago, and, well, I think ya get it now. This is GREAT record, probably the best record of 1976, were it actually from 1976. It’s got poetry and soul and killer songs, and unless yer all hopped-up on speed 24 hours a day, there is bound to be some moment when this is exactly the album you need. And yeah, I know, these cats are friends of mine, but baby, I choose my friends well.
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