These United States
DC9, Saturday, October 13

With literary aspirations layered over low-key rhythms and longing vocals, These United States are by turns fiercely enthused and melancholically memorable. They shake and sizzle, stomp and ponder, warble and whoop – but always seek to engage the audience in a thought and a story beyond the usual pop-and-roll fare. More than anything, they've gone about music the old-fashioned way: by touring tirelessly from coast-to-coast. Their appearances at CMJ 2006, SXSW 2007, and 220 shows in the 2 short years since their formation have landed them on bills with everyone from Califone and Page France to Richard Buckner and Karl Blau. Though they call themselves a "jangly railyard lyric-pop psyche-dirge outfit," they're often described as a mix of Calexico, The Kinks, and M. Ward live. But perhaps the best sum-up yet of a band that's captured so much attention without a single official release under its belt comes from the blog Music For Robots:

"I accidentally saw these guys last weekend and it was one of those all-too-rare-these-days events where I got really excited by an opening band that I didn't know. The second band in a four-band lineup, I didn't want their set to end. And while I didn't know any of their songs, These United States made me feel like I had heard them all before, and like this next one was the song I had been hoping they'd play all night. It's kind of like The Band, maybe a little bit of the playfulness of Cracker. It seems like every comparison is a little different. You'll have to judge for yourself. It's American music. You can call it alt-country if you have to. Personally, I've been listening to a lot of early 50's rock while reading Johnny Cash essays and These United States fits in perfectly to both."

Whatever the allure, These United States are taking their act a little further on up the road still, embarking on their first European tour the day after they play the DAM! Festival. With a debut album set for release in early 2008, it's hard to imagine all the new territory These United States will be traversing soon.

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