In House #1846: The Long Winters & The Broken West in Salt Lake City

It's a triumvirate of indie pop tonight at Salt Lake City's Kilby Court as The Long Winters, The Broken West, and Stars of Track & Field all take to the stage for one of the final shows on thier current tour together. By far the most established of the three, The Long Winters released thier third full-length album, Putting the Days to Bed, last year on Barsuk. The band serves as a showcase for the smartly-written, classic pop tunes of frontman John Roderick, who seems to contain no shortage of wit, in or out of his songs. Their When I Pretend to Fall was one of this show's top five album picks of 2003, and remains an utterly relistenable masterpiece of pop music.



The other two acts on the bill are both technically classifiable as "up-and-coming bands," though they have each managed to come a long way in a short period of time. The Los Angeles-based Broken West issued their debut album, I Can't Go On, I'll Go On earlier this year on Merge, and have not taken long to capture the attention of a diverse audience with power-pop leaning tunes that sound like that place where Big Star never met up with Gram Parsons. The Stars of Track & Field, meanwhile, hail from Portland, Oregon, where they must stand out easily among that city's generally more lo-fi musical element. Their's is a big sound full of swirling guitars, ethereal vocals, and electronic blips, making comparisons to the likes of Radiohead apt. They begin a tour opening for Joseph Arthur later this week in Montreal.


In House #1846.
Airdate: 4/11/07
Focus: The Long Winters, The Broken West, & Stars of Track & Field play Salt Lake City tonight, plus new music from Grand Archives, The Ponys, Sea Wolf, and more.

BONUS MP3s-
The Long Winters, from Putting the Days to Bed:

"Pushover" (MP3)
...and from When I Pretend to Fall:

"Stupid" (MP3)

The Broken West, from I Can't Go On, I'll Go On:

"Down In the Valley" (MP3)

"Brass Ring" (MP3)

PLAYLIST

In House PODCAST #292