Heave Media

Sounds of Success for Frontier Ruckus

While the Orien was fun, Deadmalls and Nightfalls is dark look at superb songwriting for Frontier Ruckus.

Frontier Ruckus

Deadmalls and Nightfalls

Released on Jul 20, 2010

So a few months ago I bought this old banjo from some guy’s basement for 50 dollars on a whim.  It seemed like a fine decision at the time, me overlooking all the obvious issues that arise when storing a banjo in a dingy damp basement for 15 years.  Regardless, however, I soon was overwhelmed with the desire to become the folk music star that I was obviously destined to become.  I started listening to whatever music I could find that had any trace of a badass banjo tearing it up; we’re talking about copious amounts of Avett Brothers and Sufjan here, hell, Steve Martin may have even slipped into the mix a few times every now and again. 

I’ve always been a fan of some good ol’ indie folk, even more so lately, and so in my search for bands to write Nice to Meet You a few weeks ago I happened to come across this Michigan folk set.  It’s safe to say that week, unlike many of the other weeks, I was genuinely excited about what I had found.  I was even more excited when a couple weeks after that I searched the band on YouTube, and low and behold, what I found on the first page of results – a video of Frontier Ruckus performing a porch show in the town I’m moving in a week!  But I digress, on to the review!

The album starts just as any respectable folk album should, with a liberal amount of banjo twang, uncommon vocals, and lyrics filled with mystic hidden meanings and references to times long past.  The first track, “Nerves of the Nightmind,” ends with a blaze of horns and some intense banjo plucking in what’s almost a ragtime breakdown.  It sets the energy level high, and never one to disappoint, Frontier Ruckus maintain momentum throughout, never allowing a dull moment to make it onto the final product. 

The following track, “Ontario,” is an ode to the great North, and as the band is based in metro Detroit, I’d say they know a little something about the subject matter.  Frontier Ruckus has always done heir best to express their roots, from their first album being written solely about the mythical Orion Town, which was made to be an old forgotten Michigan town where the stories described in the album originated. 

While the lyrics may be, at times, hard to follow, vocalist/guitarist Matthew Milia does an excellent job weaving intricate stories filled with metaphor after metaphor and more assonance than you’d expect to find in a beatnik poetry collection.  “Silverfishes” exemplifies this especially well, and I could be mistaken, but it sounds as though Anna Burch, one of the group’s former vocalists, appears in this track to help out on guest vocal detail. 

“Pontiac, the Nightbrink,” the longest track on Deadmalls and Nightfalls at just over eight minutes has quite a bit going on.  Besides making several shout outs to the supposed namesake of the album, the song focuses on the forgotten and undisturbed memories of Pontiac.  On their website, Matthew explains:

“The chief business of Frontier Ruckus is the collection and organization of these solid, unmoving markers. We spool the vast confusion and depth of existence around fast-food restaurants in anchoring tethers; we use the vacuous space of the abandoned 90s mall, now dead and tomb-like, as leaky reservoirs of overflowing memory.”

With this album they seem to have done just that.  Wherever you may be upon listening, this album takes the listener to new places of utter and surprising familiarity.  While a sorrowing tribute to the past, filled with memories displaced and discarded, Frontier Ruckus brings them back to the present, if only to, just momentarily let the listener remember a childhood no longer graspable. 

Near the end of the album, perhaps the album’s most heartfelt track, “How Could I Abandon (My Only Companion),” makes its appearance.  With themes of regret over love lost, it’s certainly a relatable bit of music and profoundly personal for a band that spends as much time as it does telling stories.  The song is simple, short, and sweet.

Deadmalls and Nightfalls has already sealed the deal as my favorite album of 2010.  The album has a great flow, is well written, and can really get your foot tapping when need be.  At times Frontier Ruckus can bring about an almost dreamlike quality, but all the while making it seem natural. Deadmalls and Nightfalls may take a listen or two to get acclimated with, but once you do be prepared to find something new lurking with each listen.  

Posted by Andrew Scott on May 18, 2010 @ 9:00 am