Toronto Indie rock trio, The Rural Alberta Advantage, ring out the folk-rock changes in a dramatic way on their third album, Mended With Gold.
The three-piece (Nils Edenloff, vocals, guitar; Amy Cole, background vocals, keyboards, bass pedals and Paul Banwatt, drums) mix the keening edge of early alt-rock pioneers, REM and The Jayhawks with detectable Smashing Pumpkins vocal personality for added thwack appeal.
But the band’s hint of northern sturm und drang creates the hint of chill that gives them a subtle Canadian gothic personality. They like their folk rock with a hard dose of Billy Corgan-style indie rock heroics, so let those north winds blow (This City).
As well, The RAA taps into fellow Torontonian Emily Haines’ (Metric) electronic dirge in On The Rocks, but the band’s sound is wide open and acoustically driven– they grind on with a clear melody.
Terrified is a great template of passionate folk rock that is hook-strong enough to find a home on commercial radio and deep enough to captivate those sated on and sick of pop song overkill.
Runners in the Night is the diamond of the album, a flawlessly arranged song with the chords in the right places. It suggests a melody before Edenloff begins to sing. It’s a song that can light up a dark night or inspire energy on a lonely, long distance drive. It’s naturally evocative, the kind of track that will force you to hit repeat a few times to keep that buzz going.
The RAA adds de rigueur minor colours to their egalitarian grind, just enough to open the door and let in some northern wind(45/33).
The heavy thump of Banwatt’s drums adds enough force to take the music up to rock show pitch (All We’ve Ever Known). The RAA has a big sound for a three-piece group and a finely honed sense of taste and the dramatic.
