Events

[INDIE] On the brand new disc, All Across This Land (out last week on Vagrant), Portland’s kitchen-sink-folkies Blitzen Trapper ditch the chemistry set in favor of using one tried and true element: rock. Sounding a bit like Blackberry Smoke on the title track, Land cooks with 1970s FM spirit, and within that context it’s a fun, satisfying ride. Better yet, the band lets their restless spirit wander through the airwaves of yore, directly referencing Tom Petty (“Rock and Roll Was Made for You”) and Bruce Springsteen (“Nights Were Made for Love”), with less specific nods to Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Dire Straits, and the Grateful Dead along the way. Meanwhile, frontman Eric Earley remains every bit the storyteller we’ve always known him to be (“Cadillac Road”). As a five-piece musical unit, Blitzen Trapper shines bright in this unusually straightforward setting, alternating between jangle-pop anthems and something a bit ballsier—peppering bits of pedal steel, slide guitar, and harmonica in all the right places. Really, All Across This Land is Earley and company showing us yet another thing they do well, and while one could argue it’s a derivative move, the band has already reared their own inimitable personality over the course of seven albums—they’re entitled to pay homage, especially when they do it so well. Saturday, October 10 at Town Ballroom.