Sometimes, music is like wine and only gets better and better with age. Things are no different with Take Things As They Come, the long-awaited debut for Myles Coyne & the Rusty Nickel Band. The Milwaukee outfit formed originally in 2010, became awesome over the past 18 months, and released Take Things As They Come on August 1st.
Take Things As They Come was introduced to the world with a release show at Linneman’s in Milwaukee, featuring Calliope and Faux Fir on August 3rd. For those who were unable to make the official release show, Myles Coyne & the Rusty Nickel Band have some upcoming Midwestern dates where you can experience them live and snag a CD (or two).
The album opens with “My Grandmother’s House”, a nice introduction to Myles’ voice and the Rusty Nickel’s brand of folk pop. An easy transition between tracks leads into “Max”. It’s a pleasant tune with gentle percussion and sensible electric guitar melodies. When the chorus has the potential explode, the song instead stays mellow. Good judgement holds them back; it is after all, just the beginning of the album.
Coming to the title track, though, the band is done warming up. That restraint is gone, and Myles Coyne & Rusty Nickels are ready to flex their musical muscles and show what they’ve got in ’em. Myles really digs into the folk genre here and peppers the song with harmonica accents, indie yelps, mandolin, and gorgeous harmonies. The quality and style of his vocals really shine in this track. Though admittedly not always on key, Myles’ vocal parts suit the folky and raw feel of the album. If it were perfect, it wouldn’t have the character that I enjoy so much.
Also notable is “About”, a track written and sang by Caley Conway, backed by the Rusty Nickels. To describe this, I’m tempted to just say “Damn!”, but I suppose I could write something of more substance. This conversational tune spotlights Conway’s impressive vocal range. Against the ukelele, it takes the foreground and does indeed shine. Not to say the rest of the album is complicated, but the simplicity of the instrumentation in this track offers a nice contrast to the rest of the album. It’s stripped down to its best parts and easy to listen to on repeat.
Having followed Myles Coyne and the Rusty Nickels for a few years now, it’s just awesome to finally hear them release a full-length album. I’m not sure how to summarize the album in its entirety other than to say that it just sounds right, like the perfect culmination of years of jamming, gigging, and dreams. It makes me happy to hear this lighthearted album from a bunch of musicians with a lot of ambition coupled with a lot of talent. Take Things As They Come is eager to please – and it does.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
August 16 at The Tonic Room in Chicago, IL
September 5 at The Hotel Foster in Milwaukee, WI
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