Bowerbirds' debut album, Hymns for a Dark Horse, was nearly one hundred percent focused on the thesis that the earth is a sacred place with merit beyond us, and that humans are just visitors here. Its contrapuntal harmonies documented a moment in the life of the songwriter and the life of the band - Beth Tacular and Phil Moore living in an airstream in rural North Carolina, building a cabin of reclaimed boards by hand in the woods - but did so without, as far as we could tell, delving into their lives at all. While these weren't protest songs, per se, they had the wry anger of a 'Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.' The songs were interconnected, both musically and thematically, a musical white paper of the very best, most listenable kind.
Bowerbirds w/ Julie Doiron, Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 8pm. $10.
