Woozy Folk Charm
The Kamikaze Hearts offer 10 tracks of uplifting folk with all the rippling guitars and sandpaper-rough vocals that come with the style. Try The Mountain Goats with more vibrant backing as a comparison and you're not far off.
'Oneida Road' is full of gritty rural tales, from the winding laments of 'Defender' with its harrowing vocal harmonies and pearl drop percussion necessitating a sudden agitation in the listener, to the mellifluous beauty of 'Wolfert's Roost'.
The band use vocal harmonies to great effect, sounding like the voice of the weary yokels that their music would seem to portray, 'You Can't Just Get Up And Leave' is a fine example of this, with its obvious theme of being bound to a place. In contrast, the next number, 'No One Called You A Failure' feels like it's constantly moving as the undulating guitarwork shuffles you along on a journey, and not the last of 'Oneida Road', this is reinforced by the balmy vocals, "I can't help but notice you put all your boxes in the front seat". The lyrics capture a melancholy resignation in their opaque telling of commonplace stories. The carefully thought out details charm the listener, "It rained for three weeks straight and the soccer field was a narrow vein with the little waves laughing at the bricks of the schoolhouse wall", painting a vivid image in your inner mind.
'Deer Hunter' is a slow, piano-backed ballad that soothes its way into your heart and fills it with tender tribulations, while 'Guyana Central High School Class of '78' is so delicately depicted that it can't fail to move you.
'Oneida Road' is a woozy mix of aching tunes with sparkling details that lift you out of the black and white melodies, this is a rolling country-tinged delight of an album.