Ryan Traster - Low Mirada (2022)

The new album “Low Mirada” will be released September 30th, 2022 via Blackbird Record Label. The album was recorded in Minneapolis with Kris Johnson (The Jayhawks, Flowers Studio) and features mixing and keyboard work by Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Pinegrove). The video for the first single “The Night’s Got You” is out now. A less wild Elvis Costello vocal & band sound style emerges at times from Ryan Traster but basically, this young fellow has a provocative showcase of his own. His voice is not like all the other contemporary pop-country artists, there’s a tinge of attitude & it’s snazzy.

From the Costello propellent Traster cruises through some skies familiar with Graham Parker. While Traster doesn’t have the Parker grit in his voice he does have a Parker phrasing style & melodic embellishment akin to Parker’s period of “The Mona Lisa’s Sister.”

The tunes have an edge & are catchy. With all that going for him Ryan also sings with a gratifying twinge. He’s likable because he sounds fresh & maintains it throughout his 9-cut "Low Mirada".

By “The Seventh Daughter,” Ryan is sounding more like Ryan Traster. Mature songwriting, vibrant varied soundscapes with a good fluid band. There’s a twang to this without sounding entirely country. It’s that punk ingredient that he absorbed from early Costello & Parker. But since he’s doing the stirring of the melody & lyrics in a new pot the music comes out with a wholly new flavorful calorie.

Titles like “One Click Salvation,” is what interest me. It shows some creativity in titling a song that many singer-songwriters seem to treat as secondary. What is a “one-click salvation,” I need to know, so I need to listen, again, Traster uses a signature voice with blended vintage sounds he has polished to an alternate-troubadour concoction much like Syd Barrett/Robyn Hitchcock’s solo work. It’s a splash of cold water on sleepy faces.

This isn’t quite pop-country because Traster injects far too many suggestions that he was breastfed on the “Medusa of punk melody” – the pub-rock of Brinsley Schwartz, Nick Lowe, Ian Gomm & ultimately the redoubtable Costello & Parker with an inheritance from Alex Chilton. Every tune is like candy that starts sweet but gets tart toward the end. Playful.

Ryan Traster (6/12-string Rickenbacker/vocals), Michael McGarthwaite (electric/slide guitars), Nick Johnson (bass/vocals), Peter Anderson (drums), Andy Holmaas (guitar), Naomi Dornfeld (vocals), Chris Walla (keys). Recorded by Kris Johnson in Minneapolis MN. Songs by Ryan Traster except “The Seventh Daughter” by Traster/Portz & “It’s All About Her” by Traster/Wisely.

Highlights – “Morose Empire,” “The Seventh Daughter,” “One Click Salvation,” & “Blue Blood” (Neil Young-type song).