Tulsa Drone - Songs from a Mean Season

While Richmond, Virginia’s Tulsa Drone may often be lumped into the instrumental post-rock crowd, they are forging on with their own brand and vision of what instrumental rock should sound like. One thing that I have come to enjoy about Tulsa Drone and their latest album Songs from a Mean Season is that they don’t necessarily rely on the quiet to loud aesthetics commonly used within the genre. Something you’ll read often about Tulsa Drone is that their music contains an almost cinematic feel to it, and while listening to Songs from a Mean Season I couldn’t agree more. That aspect of the bands sound is partly the reason I’ve been able to really enjoy this album. It has a completely different approach to what I am used to, it’s not relying on the same old tried and true methods nor does it buy into any of the genres tired clichés.

Using a good amount of different instruments, including impressive incorporation of the bass-hammered dulcimer, the band has captured the sound of desolation in such a manner that it’s almost hard to put into words. The groups sound is definitely slightly influenced by that of old-western music and/or lifestyle, which often lends to the bands illustrative soundtrack of possibly being surrounded by nothing but the cold lonely plains or desert. Don’t let that description fool you into believing that this is simply something that will fit naturally in the background as opposed to a disc that warrants multiple listens, because it surely does. It’s surprisingly captivating to listen to it, maybe more so because of the area I live in, however I can’t help but think about driving along the highway at night through Kansas or even here in parts of Missouri. It’s almost too fitting for those times whenever I am out there and I can’t see nothing but dark fields and the eerie feeling of being the only one on a long stretch of highway. Whether that’s the exact visual picture Tulsa Drone were aiming for, I am not quite sure, but I am imagine they are happy to know that their music has the ability to create such mental images to the people that are fortunate enough to sit down and listen to Songs from a Mean Season.

For those that are familiar with Tulsa Drone, it might be a bit surprising to hear that there are indeed vocals sparsely used in a couple places on the album provided by guitarist Erik Grotz. While I would have been perfectly content with the album being strictly instrumental, and for the most part it is, it was actually very rewarding to hear Grotz’s vocals. On top of being a very capable vocalist, his voice and delivery is actually very fitting to what the bands music is trying to accomplish in terms of feel and imagery. His voice has a slight downtrodden monotony to it that blends perfectly with the bands practical soundtrack to the barren locations left on earth.

Tulsa Drone – Monongahela [MP3]
Tulsa Drone – Brace [MP3]

For those interested, Songs from a Mean Season is available through Perpetual Motion Machine. The album gets a strong stamp of approval from me, so I highly recommend picking this up.