All the Way Home

Album Review

Americana is basically dead and buried in the country that lent the alt-country genre its name, with the handful of hangers-on more or less recycling the rustic minimalism already perfected by Will Oldham and contributing little to the movement's forward motion. Up in Canada it's a different story — Vancouver's Radiogram not only recalls Americana's halcyon days, but for All the Way Home draws on disparate influences spanning from chamber pop to slowcore to post-punk (a cover of New Order's dramatic "Love Vigilantes," no less) to update the formula for a different era. With its pedal steel, strings, and trumpet solos, the record sometimes suggests a grittier Mojave 3, and frontman Ken Beattie's duets with vocalist Shelly Campbell evoke the Walkabouts' Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson, but Radiogram offers more than the sum of its influences — Beattie is a phenomenal songwriter, and his spacious, atmospheric arrangements sometimes recall the production work of Daniel Lanois. Lofty comparisons to be certain, but All the Way Home deserves the kudos.