Shane Watt Bannd - Low Rent Folk (2022) Hi-Res

This is folk-rock with a slight retro twist, performed in a beautifully loose manner, seemingly sometimes on the point of collapse, but all the better for that edginess. I can hear all kinds of classic reference points – Buffalo Springfield, America, the Grateful Dead, and the Allman Brothers, for example – but it’s all delivered in a scuffed-up, garage-y, lo-fi style. More recent ‘Cosmic Americana,’ so to speak, such as Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears, Color Green, and even early My Morning Jacket also spring to mind, and like all of the aforementioned, it’s bursting with melody, great harmonies, and is seriously groovy stuff. I’m loving it, but as good as it is, I must protest the album’s brevity at a scant 23 minutes.