Last year, America’s indifferent masses finally acknowledged the country’s desperate need for change and elected a leader who not only represented change but inspired confidence, re-affirmed those freedoms we held so dear, and gave us back our sense of patriotism without making us feel ashamed of it. The dark times aren’t over, but we’ve filled ourselves with enough hope to get by.
You get the idea that Akron/Family is feeling the same sense of re-claimed patriotism before even hearing their new album. The cover of Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free (Dead Oceans) features the American flag, its star-spangled square replaced by a tie-dye swirl of white on faded navy, its broad stripes wrinkled and gaping in spots. But it still hangs proud and defiant, if a bit worse for wear.
Loves of country, grief and anger at its current state, and hope for the future are all themes threaded throughout SWSF. Akron/Family’s fourth full-length and first effort as a trio (founding member Ryan Vanderhoof left in late ‘07) opens with “Everyone is Guilty,” an accusation and confession in the form of an epic, rip-raging, blues riffing prog rock song with dramatic swells of strings and horns, and classy flute flourishes. The title track directs a beseeching plea to the powers that be via a lovely acoustic ballad with slide guitar and gentle suggestions to “Set them free, set them up, and let them be / their own release.” The Native American Afro-percussive tribal breakdown and yell-chanted-sung chorus of “They Will Appear” speaks of triumph, the slow ascending build of “Sun Will Shine” offers a ray of hope, and “Last Year” closes the album with optimism for ‘09, its final lyric, “This year’s gonna be ours.”
Multi-instrumentalists/vocalists Seth Olinsky, Miles Seaton and Dana Janssen have evolved their experimental neo-folk rock by adding electro and organic elements, calling on guest musicians to bring a lush fullness to the sound, and turning up the ’70s psychedelia, all without abandoning the essence of what has always made Akron/Family so good — the moments of quiet bliss, the raw freak-outs, the roiling soundscapes of music-noise, the exuberant choral harmonies and chants, the genuine sincerity behind it all.
SWSF is more focused than previous efforts, more powerful, more moving. It’s a joyous ode to America that comes straight from the heart and offers balm for our wounds.
This article appears in May 20-26, 2009.