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- Date Released: January 24, 2006
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Label: Barsuk Records
Seattle singer-songwriter's alone-at-the-party indie-folk opus paces the long hallway separating Simon and Garfunkel and Elliott Smith.
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We Say...
There’s a whole lot of hallway between Elliott Smith and Simon and Garfunkel, and, on his 2006 breakthrough album, Rocky Votolato paces every inch of it. “This is the kind of comedy where no one's laughing, cause it's hard to,” he sighs at the start of one alone-at-the-party indie-folk opus. “I'm a punchline who's punch-drunk with my fist in a broken mirror.” Like everything on Makers, “Portland is Leaving” has our humble narrator stumbling marvelously from anger to self-loathing to remarkable moments of clarity. “Love is the only answer; everything else is just a trainwreck,” he declares mid-song, only to amend it a minute later: “When love's a trainwreck you're a mistake.” Ouch. Guess we’re back to anger, then. Know what? Even when Votolato’s at his most bitter and petty — “You’re as pretty as you are cruel” he tells somebody you hope he’ll never hear from again — that breathy bourbon voice makes it all go down smooth. And sometimes Makers' distinctive brand of acoustic simplicity and swooning melody approaches its own version of pop perfection, as on the blissful “White Daisy Passing” and the insane “Tin Foil Hats.”
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They Say...
Makers is Rocky Votolato's fourth album, appearing fittingly in line after 2003's Suicide Medicine, but with a worn resilience all its own. It finds Votolato sounding older and weathered, more content than jaded, and there's a modest quality to his steady voice that projects words as both sincere and comforting. Some songs are country-tinged -- with touches of harmonica, pedal steel, violin, and piano supporting the focal acoustic guitar -- but it's more that they simply evoke images of rural dirt roads, long walks and quiet autumn nights at home by the fireplace than anything completely Southern-fried. Genuinely charming, Votolato retains that gentle roughness in his performance, which matches up to the everyday guy kind of vibe running throughout the mostly relaxed set. He can pack quite a bit of emotion into just the slightest of inflections; "White Daisy Passing" showcases this straightaway with its warm vocal harmonies, while the tender mosey of the title track tears into listeners with its soft ruminations of death. Makers is a record tied to home, the imagery of songs like "Streetlights" and "The Night's Disguise" seemingly snapshots from one's own memory. Fans of Votolato's past work will fall for Makers in no time at all. And since the record has enough of those small moments -- the touching ones that might take a few rounds to completely sink in -- there's enough to not only keep them coming back for more, but to also leave behind a feeling as warm as a drink of its whiskey namesake.
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| 01. |  |
White Daisy Passing |
3:10 |
|
| 02. | |
Portland Is Leaving |
2:48 |
|
| 03. | |
The Night's Disguise |
3:19 |
|
| 04. | |
She Was Only in It for the Rain |
3:11 |
|
| 05. | |
Uppers Aren't Necessary |
2:57 |
|
| 06. | |
Wait Out the Days |
2:45 |
|
| 07. | |
Streetlights |
2:30 |
|
| 08. | |
Tennessee Train Tracks |
2:27 |
|
| 09. | |
Goldfield |
3:33 |
|
| 10. | |
Tinfoil Hats |
2:43 |
|
| 11. | |
Where We Left Off |
5:43 |
|
| 12. | |
Makers |
3:19 |
|
12 Total Tracks, 38:25 Total Length
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Credits
- Aaron Sprinkle - Mixing // Kevin Suggs - Pedal Steel // Phil Wandscher - Guitar (Electric) // Rocky Votolato - Guitar (Acoustic) // Rocky Votolato - Harmonica // Rocky Votolato - Vocals // Rocky Votolato - Producer // Christian Wargo - Vocals (Background) // Troy Glessner - Mastering // Casey Foubert - Bass // Casey Foubert - Percussion // Casey Foubert - Piano // Casey Foubert - Violin // Casey Foubert - Drums // Casey Foubert - Keyboards // Casey Foubert - Producer // Casey Foubert - Engineer // Cody Votolato - Guitar (Electric) // James McAlister - Percussion
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