SOTD 1.17.10

Hearkening back to the Bob Dylan epics where storytelling songs approached the double-digit mark in duration, Josh Ritter's "Thin Blue Flame" combines this nostalgia with refreshingly simplistic instrumentation consisting of only a piano, guitar, drum set, and voice, which allows Ritter's vocals to take charge and really drive the piece. Keeping the musical interest high with build-ups and climactic releases, the song doesn't feel like it's nearly ten minutes long; the addition and subtraction of instruments retains the freshness. Enjoy this welcome indie folk pause from the clusterfucks of noise—no-fi, shitgaze, noise rock, etc.—that seem to be dominating the indieverse right now.

Josh Ritter: "Thin Blue Flame"
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