The Scattered PAGES

Yeah, that’s just a wee bit embarrassing — one of the best, most original, neato-est bands in my own damn city…and I end up learning about ’em (pretty much) in the pages of CMJ. Argh. Granted, I’d heard of the band, heard good things about ’em, but never actually heard them…

At any rate, I’ve since picked up 2006’s This Is Where the Story Ends, and I’m kicking myself for not grabbing it sooner. The album’s a strange sort of “Western rock” — not country, not folk, but with elements of both, plus a penchant for indie experimentation and a hearty dose of “old-timey” elements. In terms of bands who do stuff like this, think Austin’s Okkervil River, Iron & Wine, Murder By Death, or Neko Case at her spookiest. The songs are murky and resigned-sounding, with gorgeous slide guitar lines, Nick Cave-ish vocals, and bits of country so old-school they’d make the cast of Hee Haw blush. This is like the soundtrack to a Gothic-style Western, something Cormac McCarthy might write. The songs drift in and out like melancholy ghosts who can’t find peace but aren’t quite out to wreak vengeance on humanity.

And it’s freakin’ great, if you couldn’t guess that from the above. I love the quiet, more countrified bits, I love the gloomy lyrics, and I love the frantic flamenco raveup in “Apple Sea” — the whole damn thing. Still haven’t caught The Pages (or is it PAGES? I’m never sure if its caps or not…) live, but I’m a click or two away from ordering their second album, Lazy Are The Skeletons, right now (both discs are out on Three Ring Records)…