Wild Sweet Orange - The Whale EP

Genre rock Publisher Nervous Blood External Links Wild Sweet Orange MySpace

I have to admit that when I think of Alabama, I don't exactly think of it as a hotbed for exciting new bands. Sure, the state is home to the legendary Muscle Shoals studios and birthplace to three members of the Drive-By Truckers, but I'm more apt to look to the neighboring state of Georgia for a scene that consistently sends forth promising musicians. It seems the only thing coming out of Alabama recently is a disproportionate number of American Idol contestants, it seems we have them to thank (or blame, depending on your opinion) for Bo Bice, Ruben Studdard, and Taylor Hicks. But if the fast rise to national attention of quartet Wild Sweet Orange is any indication, we won't be sleeping on Birmingham much longer.

Led by singer-songwriter Preston Lovinggood (the most un-rock 'n' roll name ever?), Wild Sweet Orange plays a brand of roots-tinged indie rock that sounds instantly familiar and comforting, if not wholly original. Imagine a Death Cab For Cutie born south of the Mason-Dixon line and with a little bit of a sunnier disposition. Since putting out self-produced and self-released The Whale EP last year, the band has been featured on influential tastemaker KEXP, had one of its' songs appear on Grey's Anatomy, and been signed to Columbia Records subsidiary Canvasback. Not too shabby for a bunch of guys with just one EP under their belts, an EP that now serves as the teaser for their major-label funded full length due later this year.

The swirling, atmospheric guitars and cooing background vocals on "Land of No Return" reveal why it was chosen to soundtrack a prime time soap opera, you can almost picture a lovelorn doctor staring longingly out a rain-streaked window as Livinggood warns that "there's no place you can run to forget all your longing". He isn't exactly the next Dylan, but the melody is pretty enough that it allows you to ignore the pedestrian lyrics. The true strengths of this band don't, however, lie in the ballads. Whale gets the most exciting when the boys plug in and let things get a little more loose. Garret Kelly's fantastic bass line anchors the rhythmic "Be Careful (What You Want)" and gives the overdriven chorus the oomph and swagger it deserves. EP closer "I'm Coming Home" bounces along so joyously that you can almost forgive them for nicking that guitar line and melody from The Cure's "In Between Days".

There's nothing on here that is going to set the world afire, but for a self-produced release by a band just starting to hit their stride – this is extremely promising. The follow-up full length will be the real make or break point, luckily they've got the necessary buzz that will allow them to make a big splash, provided they can step up the swagger and tone down the clichéd lyrics. Between their refreshingly bright take on the usual dour indie rock and an innate sense of rhythm many bands would love to have, there are enough reasons to believe that Wild Sweet Orange can put together something really good.