Boston roots rocker Kristian Montgomery and his Winterkill Band knock it out of the park with their new CD, The Gravel Church. Melding elements of Americana roots music like rockabilly, country, folk, and a little touch of classic rock, Montgomery offers up a masterwork of 16 outstanding tracks.
Opening track “Boston” finds Montgomery singing to a love he’s returning to in his old city. His husky timbre coats this song with smooth, sprawling vocals. He swaggers over flinty electric guitars and a speedy shuffling groove like nobody’s business. He must declare his love while a lot of impressive instrumentation plays beneath his voice.
“Foolish Devil” ambles in down tempo, roots flavored electric guitars playing little bitty notes, picking one at a time to construct an authentic flavor. A mellow vocal approach lets Montgomery show the emotive force of his voice as he goes up higher, sustains his vocal notes, widens the song, then comes down with a gentle swoop. One can almost picture his drummer and bass player keeping the push gentle, taking the journey with this singer and songwriter as he takes his sweet time painting a picture with vivid lyrics.
“5 Horses” utilizes a primitive jungle like chorus to introduce itself. Montgomery applies a solemn vocal tone to a sonic landscape. Montgomery’s world is filled in with a harrowing drone, light touches of electric guitar, a second guitar phrase more pronounced than the first guitar’s bits of tone, and a jittery percussion that indicates sudden movement beneath the contrasting guitars. These elements, under Montgomery’s direction, form into one dark world that exists just to make this song a mournfully beautiful thing.
Montgomery and his cohorts rock things up with “Couch Sleep,” a witty commentary on the concluding portion of a failed relationship When Montgomery sings of others knowing his pain, he has already gotten them to feel it with his deadpan, forlorn vocal. He again uses his vocal sprawl to coat a landscape of swirling organ, tuneful, smoldering lead guitar, and a driving rhythm section.
Taking us into his country roots on “Razor Wire Heart,” Montgomery and his Winterkill Band unfurl a juicy twangy electric guitar, notes purty and real to what the songwriter is feeling, emotive in each meter. Vivid imagery from Montgomery’s time spent in prison are as sobering as the sadness wafting up from the flavorful electric as well as the razor wire that once kept him confined.
“Polly Amorous” follows a roots flavored piano line, an interval of heartfelt notes that speak volumes to Montgomery’s message. His voice rises up in emotion to widen the feeling of this ballad, a technique that envelops his backing band as well as his listener into his world of reflection. A pulpy groove loaded with drum fills and knobby bass keep this one on track as it flows forth with persistent melancholy blues.
A spooky spoken word narrative introduces “Hjertebygger,” a Celtic flavored tune that haunts the imagination with a melody line from Northumbrian Pipes. Other instruments are carefully placed around the main musical theme so that the listener is treated to a landscape of bittersweet acoustic guitar notes and a persistent yet unobtrusive kick from the rhythm section. Montgomery here makes his vocal flow sound and feel haunted. One can only imagine the worldly experience he must have lived through to come up with such an effectively soul stirring piece.
“A Life Like This” is marked with a sweet whistling from Montgomery and a tender backing vocal from Kailie Dutton. Whistle and backing singer accompany Montgomery through his jaunty grooved vocal melody. One can picture Montgomery walking down the sidewalk smiling from ear to ear and a bounce in his step. Singing in a mellow down easy mode, he creates catchy textures and a hooky chorus. One can sense the building up of Beatles influences before this track eventually incorporates the “Eleanor Rigby” melody into its pleasant mood.
Leaping into “Take You Home” with a reassuring acoustic guitar chord progression, Montgomery eases into the familiar role of singer as romancer. His mellow croon contrasts perfectly with a riffy rhythm guitar and a long arcing lead guitar line. Montgomery’s music makes one sense his longing for companionship and an anticipation of the evening to come. Backing vocalist Dutton reaches spiritual heights as her high pitched coos spike.
A touch of Latin swing informs the sweep of vocal and peppy percussion of “You’re New.” Montgomery keeps this one classy, a self-restrained romancer’s charm in his tone. Not only does his handsome voice sound like a polite introduction to a lady, his vocal hovers in just the right place over a jazzy guitar glide, especially at the end as he sustains it high pitched over retiring guitar and organ.
A shuffling jig groove makes “Girls That Fall Apart” a ball of two step fun. Sprinkling in a countrified electric guitar melody, it gives plenty of space for Montgomery to croon with sincerity about girls that lack the ability to do battle with life. Montgomery sings so sweetly and gentlemanly one can picture him holding his cowboy hat over his heart.
Leading his band through the rockabilly number “She’s No Cadillac,” Montgomery expresses the frustrations of a second rate love. He sends his voice out like a rope in each meter, pulling it back like a lasso of gritty, old school electric guitar styles. He also manages the rockabilly feat of keeping his tormented love story just above the fray of early rock and roll instrumental interplay.
“That Bird Won’t Fly” makes for catchy fun. An infectious percussion track, an alluring backing vocal, and a crunchy electric guitar come together under Montgomery’s pop idol polish. What this singer sacrifices in gritty realism in this particular song, he makes up for with a pop crooner’s soulful belting, letting out a world of feeling in each verse.
Whipping up a mighty protest song is another of Montgomery’s feats. “Look At My Child” feels as epic as Neil Young singing “Ohio” or “Rockin’ In The Free World.” Introduced by a recording of a helicopter and President Bush’s broadcast of a phony excuse to invade Iraq, this rolls in with a rollicking banjo line, an effects laden lead guitar, a bumpy, thumpy groove, and Montgomery’s assertive vocal stride. His lyrics implicate the wars of 20 some odd years ago in the dehumanization of today’s youth. His lead vocal and his backing vocalist dance their voice around one another in the chorus to give it even more hooky effectiveness.
Penultimate song “The Tracks” swaggers in with a haunted, palpable groove and a moody, humming choir. Montgomery is tastefully self-restrained here as his words speak volumes on their own. This singer croons like a troubled man as he contemplates what is found down by the tracks, the devil’s work, burned bodies, and some lessons learned. This song conjures all of those dark folks songs that capture elements of human frailty and the trouble that a human being can step into.
Montgomery and his Winterkill gang close out with a large topping of “Auld Lang Syne.” Producer Joe Clapp plays an arcing, rangy melody on Northumbrian pipes. Contrasted with Montgomery’s self-restrained vocal, those pipes conjure a feeling of history, a forlorn past that one might long to revisit but will never ever be able to.
Kristian Montgomery & The Winterkill Band have created a whopper of a roots album, The Gravel Church. There is plenty of variety within the Americana roots genres and Montgomery forges them all into his own personal style. With producer Joe Clapp turning the knobs at his Ultrasound Studios in Hanover, Massachusetts, a clear crisp sound was captured on every instrument from the solid players of the Winterkill Band: Joe Clapp on guitar; Tim Coletti on bass; Keith Schliecher on bass, Lenette Edmunds on cello; Lianna Montgomery on fiddle; Mike Dardis on piano; Jeff Armstrong on drums; Gabe Luxton on drums; Jeff Neely on banjo; and Charlie Hill played guitar on “Polly Amorous.” Fans of Americana roots music, country, rock and roll, rockabilly, and maybe even Celtic should buy a copy of The Gravel Church right away. It’s the best roots album to come out of New England in a long time.
