Kyle Craft's debult album Dolls of Highland is a very good album. More than that, I think that it is a good time for an album like this to appear on the rock music landscape. In a music world increasingly saturated with indie pop, electronica, synth-pop, Americana, and hip hop (and much of the foregoing list I love dearly), and the push back from blues rock and heavy metal, Kyle Craft has swaggered in with a old fashioned rock album that seems to take the best of Southern rock, glam, Britpop and '70s pub rock. It is attitude set to music, with guitars, bass, drums and a sassy piano, and voiced with an instrument that would meet the approval of any top notch rocker. The performances are spirited and passionate. The album has the feel of a recording made in a honky tonk, and you can almost taste the beer and feel the sawdust under your feet as you listen. Of course, not knowing where and how you live, you may actually be drinking beer and standing in sawdust as you listen. We don't judge.
Craft now makes his home in Portland, Oregon, but he is a Louisiana boy and recorded the album while back home. It seems to us that bayou flavoring has provided a unique taste to already excellent rock songs. And not just in the instrumentation and arrangements. The stories reveal a songwriter with a knack for observations and a genuine talent for encapsulating what he sees. Don't miss this one folks. When you see it on numerous year-end lists, you want the satisfaction of having enjoyed it for many months.
Dolls of Highland is out now via Sub Pop.
Sub Pop
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