Downhills Home - MinorBirds

Mon 20th Aug, 2007 in Music Reviews

The entirely overwhelming influx of both folk-rock-pop and indie rock bands in Australia in the last couple of years has left a space for those who venture into different stylistic waters.

Those who endeavour to write innovative music and cringe at the suffocating grasp of Australian Idol, find it more and more difficult to come up with something refreshing. However, Melbourne’s Downhills Home manage to achieve this by reviving the rock ‘n’ roll buzz of The Band – creating laid back country colours and bottom of the bottle blues. With the release of their debut album, Minor Birds, the five piece bring something different to the table, even if they are serving new wine in old bottles.

Only forming a little over a year ago, Downhills Home clearly boasts a handful of accomplished musicians – playing together as if they have been for a lifetime. Making many friends along the way, the album includes many guest appearances, including Matt Walker, Jen Cloher and Laura Jean. The band have also toured with the likes of Jeff Lang and Mia Dyson.

Minor Birds is a clang and twang album, the first impression one gets when listening to the record is stories of lonely houses on the prairie, dusty landscapes and the woes of the gambling man. One thing is obvious from the very beginning; the stories are the essence of these songs. The emotional sentiments are hidden behind the honky tonk; however, this makes the soft songs all the quieter, like The Body You Left Behind, in which Jen Cloher sings backing vocals.

Backing vocals are very important for the make up of this album, they are close and raucous, giving it an “all together now!” vibe – you can sing along if you know the words. The shuffling’ two-step melodies and the crash of the drums capture the upbeat numbers that dominate the record. However, The Mess You’re in and Take a Little While (to name a few) are brought to life by the masterful tinkling of Brendan McMahon on piano and keyboard. The rhythmic chink and chime of My River Wide sounds as if it were recorded in a saloon bar, with swinging doors and the smell of whiskey. Second Floor is a little different, with the use of rock organ, which almost always makes a song sound good. This country buzz is resonated even further by the inclusion of Matt Walker’s harmonica in To Make Light of Our Load.

Occasionally, with the release of a band’s debut album, there comes the dilemma of putting all of one’s eggs in one basket. This is where the record appears unbalanced, when all the killer tracks are put at the beginning – in an attempt to quickly grasp the new listener’s attention. Minor Birds adopts this a little bit and therefore gets slightly tedious by the end.

Nevertheless, I do believe Downhills Home can rumble like Joe Cocker and Levon Helm can. They show that too much of a good thing can make you look somewhere else, to spark a new interest.