Langhorne Slim - Engine EP
 

Langhorne Slim– Engine EP
Label: V2
Release Date: September 19, 2006


Indie fucks and folk purists will know better. They’ll turn up their noses and laugh at you for falling for a trick so old it doesn’t even register in the typical Pitchfork or Magnet reader’s mind as cliché anymore. Damn it all though, if you don’t fall in love with Langhorne Slim’s Engine EP for the sheer reason it doesn’t sound of this decade. That old-timey warble and the derivative, gritty plucks played over a traveler’s tale (“Sweet Olive Tree”), it’s almost too “put together” for it’s own good…almost.

Engine is only the four track precursor (read: teaser) to the 2007 full-length that will no doubt please both fans of the soft-spoken Iron & Wine and the whiskey rambles of Lucero. In the middle is where Slim comfortably resides. He never risks boredom with his slower yarns and shows enough control on the quick-paced string-splitters (“Honey Pie”) to avoid the hoot-nanny meets biker meet-up circuit of more popular alt-country acts. Perhaps, the greatest evidence of Slim's genre-takeover potential is that he can take even the most saccharine and unremarkable of lyrics and give them fortune cookie wisdom (“Restless”). In other words, you've been warned.


Who cares if he’s from…NEW YORK CITY?!?: “Restless”, “Sweet Olive Tree”

Folk round’ere don’t care too much for country: Iron & Wine, Lucero, The Love Drunks

langhorne is amazing. new york antifolk is where is at.

I am going to have to research this fortune cookie wisdom you speak of.

i just checked him out and i am very very impressed, thank you for the warning and great review russ

Daytrotter has four free Langhorne Slim songs for download at their site. It's really good stuff.

If you haven't heard of Daytrotter yet they record sessions of a lot of different artists performing their songs in a downstripped, live sort of way that ends up sounding pretty cool. To be honest, I hadn't heard of most of the bands before they showed up on the site, but it's been a great way to experience a lot of different folk and indie artists.

Thanks for the review man. This style is right up my alley. I have so many albums to check out.

Lucero's new one
This EP
Damnwells
Kevin Devine

Thank you for the review/rec.