So that’s me. But.
But, the guys in Veteran Status are fantastically nice guys. Disarmingly nice. But, being who I am, I was prepared to dislike them. I approached their show with an attitude of, “All right. Win me over”. And they did. And there’s something to be said for the idea that an artist’s character, his being if you will, is best and perhaps only truly displayed through his art. So what do we have in Veteran’s Status latest album, Railbent? Well, let me say this, it’s taken me more than a month to write this review because my aforementioned wife and daughter – excellent judges of charter and of music, both, promptly absconded with the disc and made it difficult for me to spend more than 20 minutes with it at a time. eventually, I ripped it, stuck it on my player and listened to it while walking to the gym and stalking around campus.
Veteran Status are, at its heart, two guys (Doug and Brian -- both veterans, one a purple heart awardee, hence the name) with acoustic guitars. It’s a straight forward formula creating unironic folk music – strong voices with strong writing. In fact, although they tackle pretty standard musical themes, love, loss, and destiny, they never lean heavily on cliché. Nor do they try to make their voices sound like something they're not. They sound…honest. The first two tracks, in fact, reveal not the soft folk of Iron and Wine or "Bonnie" Prince Billie, but more of a rock troubadour style. These aren't hushed still lives in song, but gutsy acoustic numbers which could easily be reimagined as fully amplified Born To Run-era Springsteen-esque songs.
When we saw them live (at Seneca’s Brother Bean) the question that my wife leaned over to ask me was, "Are they brothers”? They’re not, but they have a familiar, easy give and take with each other that also shows through in their music in songs like the jumpy up-tempo number “Beautiful Rebecca”
The production on Railbent is weak on the low end, but it’s perfectly appropriate. This is not a bass heavy album. Veteran Status has a light, bright sound. It’s by no means a Pollyanna album, but instead one that creates the overwhelming feeling of gladness, not happiness, that giddiness that doesn’t last, but an low-key sense of, “Yeah, maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem.”
There’s a lot to be said for a Rust Belt band just starting out that, like Veteran Status, insists upon the importance of original music. There’s no doubt in my mind that with their skills and presence they could play classic rock covers in a smoky bar every weekend, but instead, they choose to see themselves as artists, as writers and performers, and if there’s any justice in the world, that choice will play out for them. So, yeah, Veteran Status are nice guys who make nice music. But don’t count them out, nice guys don’t always finish last.
Visit Veteran’s Status’ blog
Befriend them on MySpace. Where you can also buy their songs.
Free and Legal Download from Veteran Status' Railbent:
"San Francisco"
"Your Destiny"
"Beautiful Rebecca"
Veteran Status live at Brother Bean:
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