Review: Thee Old Night ‘Thee Old Night’
So, what happens when you breed your doomy-stoner roots with alt-country and Americana? Erik Sugg (he of Demon Eye and Lightning Born fame), during the Big C Hiatus, set out on a journey to find out. Thee Old Night is the result of this mission. Shades of Van Zandt bleed through some of the tracks, along with mangled Americana, tales of pending disaster and great personal tragedy. Great and dirty stuff, make no mistake and evocative as all hell!
Precious Blood is the opening track on the self-titled debut release by Thee Old Night. The eerie piano motif is more telling of the vibe than you may first think. Anne Polesnak and her killer cello genuinely enhance the dark and creepy elements on this one as well.
The River The Mountain is one of the slower tunes and invokes a feeling much as the title implies. The plaintive vibe transports me directly to an isolated spot deep in the hills. Where I’ll probably lie down in the weeds to die, from the sounds of it! Heavy with a blues riff, and some singing pedal steel probably make this the ‘heaviest’ of the songs here. Red Like Crimson is another cool one, big on a slinky rhythmic groove.
Life In Pain is a garagey kinda pop tune but lyrically seems to be a tale of lost love, which was perhaps lost through the trauma suffered in years past, however, this song is fraught with sadness to my ears. Sibyl is one of the better songs (well, more to the point, one of my faves) on here, with the simple chords and slinky instrumentation playing out in some groove-laden style. The interplay between the kinda chord melody and Polesnak’s cello gives this an edge which totally caught my ear.
evocative as all hell…
Mournful and haunting, Leave The Day Behind is powered by Kevin Wade Inge’s eerie pedal steel and Sugg’s natural vibrato adds some nice colour to the song. The boogie-stomp of Salvation wrings out the torment of the lost souls and maybe the lyrics were written in a lonesome purgatory somewhere…
Wrapping this tome up is Darling, an ode to (another lost) loved one. Driven by the cello, some simple chords and although it is a similar pace to the rest of the album, it has a finality to it, which makes it a fitting last song with the feel of darkness and loneliness.
I’ve always felt writing great music with such simplified instrumentation would mean the music would have to be truly great to cover the lack of drums, amp distortion and the like. Guys like Tom Waits, Dylan et al who crafted such amazing tunes and poignant lyrics did it for decades. For me, a different and unique kinda talent is required, and the same genius is at play here. Great late-night dinner and conversation music!
Label: Firelight Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: El Jefe
