The Rural Alberta Advantage are a band who has seen what the internet can do for a indie band. They have a story that all indie band’s strive for, but so many fail to achieve. They hail from Canada and have been playing together since 2005. Unlike Animal Colletive the RAA have not had the hype of “Merriweather Post Pavilion”, but their debut album “Hometowns” has made plenty of bloggers top lists (made my #8 of the year), as well as gaining some spotlight as the emusic artist of the month for November.
The Rural Alberta Advantage consists of Paul Banwatt, Amy Cole and Nils Edenloff. Singer and guitarist Nils has a voice that many have compared to Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel. The song are full of melody and sweeping instrumentation. The lyrics discuss Nils hometown of Alberta and the heartbreak that home often brings to our lives. The songs are full of raw emotion but there is nothing “emo” about the songs. Rather the band conveys the idea of real emotions vividly. The songs feature some really killer drumming from Paul Banwatt that really impressed me. In each song the drumming really takes control and leaves you with an impression. Amy Cole adds here own touch to the songs with a sweet voice and tone that compliments Paul’s less than traditional vocals.
The album is a relentless collection of tunes that doesn’t steer of track in terms of quality or pace at any moment. The songs are engaging and like I mentioned before: emotionally grabbing. You are pulled into his head as he describes the plot and setting. For only 3 people they really make use of their instruments to create a full, complete sound. They may just be one of the best unsigned bands around period, let alone Canada.
Their buzz started with a good review from the site herohill and continued with some good word of mouth on the metacritic message boards. A poster mentioned them to emusic and that lead to them becoming artist of the month for November. Now they are getting critical and blog acclaim everywhere and it is only a matter of time until they are singed. Spread the word, real music is alive and well!
[mp3] : The Rural Alberta Advantage – The Ballad of The RAA
[mp3] : The Rural Alberta Advantage – Don’t Haunt This Place
