mountain_song.mp3
originally published on thepeoplesmusic.us
When I saw that I had been sent a track called “Mountain Song” by a British band, I said to myself, “dear God, please don’t let this be the one song that takes this whole folk revival thing too far and causes me to punch everyone wearing a flannel shirt in the throat.” But don’t worry, we’re safe—it’s good.
Obviously, Treetop Flyers sound a good bit like Crosby, Stills and Nash, but that shouldn’t really be a surprise, considering the band is named after a Stephen Stills song. Sure, you could say it sounds a bit like Fleet Foxes too, but let’s be honest; they sound like CS&N also, and quite frankly, there’s nothing wrong with that. If more bands sounded like CS&N, this world would be a better place.
Treetop Flyers call their music “country soul,” which is fine with me—it’s their band and their music, so they can call it whatever the hell they want. A handful of British critics have referred to them as Americana, which can seem a bit odd at first… you know, English people playing Americana, but there’s actually quite a few groups doing it these days, and it can be really cool to hear our music coming from a slightly different angle. Check out Treetop’s Is It All Worth It, and you’ll see what I mean when the British accents come in on the harmonies.
If the whole idea of British Americana is still bugging you for some reason, first off, you’re kind of being a jerk, and secondly, it’s really nothing new. Americana, Bluegrass, and Country are all firmly routed in traditional British and Celtic folk music, (not to mention the fact that our national anthem is set to the tune of an old British drinking song) so it’s really kind of like that whole mirror reflecting a mirror thing that goes on into infinity. However, if American bands start playing British-infused Americana, we may open up a musical worm whole that could destroy the concept of time and envelop us all in a cataclysmic implosion of nothingness. So, let’s try to avoid that.
You can download Mountain Song for free, or pick up the EP To Bury the Past here. From what I gather, there’s a new album on the way too.
