Independent (label)
10 January 2017 (released)
24 March 2017
On his latest album Dirt, vocalist/guitarist Dave Hollier comes full circle, looking for inspiration from his native Montana for an album of homespun colloquialisms and hard work.
It often takes leaving your home to appreciate what you had there. King Ropes' mastermind Dave Hollier's roots are in the small town farming culture of big sky country Montana. After moving to Brooklyn, then later to L.A., Hollier found himself longing for the gratification of a hard day's work in the field and the slower paced lifestyle of his childhood home. The album's title Dirt is in reference to living off the land. "After years of working with my hands, I was at a place in my life with a severe lack of dirt under my fingernails," Hollier explains. "So I guess that calling it Dirt is a bit of an incantation, hoping to attract more of it back into my life. Musically, I felt pretty strongly about balancing out the pretty, sweet elements with the raw, gritty stuff, both in the sounds and the lyrics."
The record's style is fluid, taking on different personalities for each of Hollier's stories.
The album opener 'Dogleg Boy' is a laid back, mid-tempo rocker. Rich, lustrous guitars ring out into the distance. Hollier's voice gives a gentle cover to a ragged tale. His tendency towards overdriven open chords and marble-mouthed crooning takes a page right out of Neil Young & Crazy Horse's grungier material. If the album continued this way, one might think the emulation too on the nose, however, King Ropes make a sharp turn for their next offering, 'Lurch On Sister'. The band takes the album into quirky indie territory. Plodding drums back a honky hillbilly delivery by Hollier, which becomes increasingly swallowed by distortion. The style approaches Primus territory with its backwoods charm. 'Mandolins and Gasoline' is a cool, vibey song that needs to be heard to be explained not exactly dark but definitely not light. Just....vibey.
Dirt is a solid offering from a unique perspective. Hollier's voice is going to be a take it or leave it point of contention. It has a matter-of-fact quality that will drive away some and enthrall others. The record does a good job of capturing rural life through a city-jaded lens.
