Full disclosure: I have never had much success enjoyably listening to bands or albums just because they have a great name. I don't think very many people do. However, that is how I stumbled across this hidden gem of an album in 2010. Strand of Oaks, the recording moniker used by Timothy Showalter, is, at its core, a singer-songwriter project. Rarely is anything ever heard beyond Showalter's melancholy voice and his guitar. Many of the songs you don't even hear his voice, choosing to forego that route for simple instrumental tracks. However, for his second album, Showalter lets go of some of the despair that was the root for his first album, Leave Ruin, and chooses the much quirkier route of writing a concept album.
More disclosure: I am a sucker for a concept album. From Neutral Milk Hotel's Anne Frank-inspired indie-folk classic In The Aeroplane Over The Sea to Titus Andronicus' Civil War themed The Monitor, the stranger the concept, the more I am sucked in. So, what is this grandiose concept that drew me in? The same disappointment and regret as before, but this time focused around fictional stories involving the Bible, The Kennedy's, and everything in between, up to and including Ghostbusters. That's right folks, Ghostbusters. Honestly, some of the concepts would not be out of place on one of your favorite metal albums. Tales of 12-foot monsters leading to mothers crying in the street would seem quite fitting on the new Mastodon album, but not on a quiet indie-folk album.
But enough of the concept, what about the music? As I said before, rarely does he disembark from the textbook singer-songwriter aesthetic. So, as is typical with these albums, the lyrical content is what must stand apart, and he passes with flying colors. On “Kill Dragon”, Showalter starts of with what would seem like a fitting song on his previous album, singing about how everyone has left him, whether it be through break-ups or death. However, the tempo picks up, leading to him repeating the line, “Mary, Mary, Mary would you marry me? / Then me and you and Jesus could be a family”. And that's how the song ends. That just sets up the strange feel of the album.
On the next track, the seven minute centerpiece “Sterling”, Showalter launches into a story about a dream he had about a trip he took with the Kennedy's, in which John Kennedy discovers a German tale written by his estranged, bastard son about a pope named Killdragon. However, at the end of it all, he reminds you that he still has a heavy heart, telling about how he “drank himself to sleep, just to get some company”. But, this is also where the music reaches its apex, a the acoustic guitar is subbed out temporarily for an electric and the drums slowly kick in as Showalter's voice fades out behind the wall of sound, saying “I saw him coming” over and over, further painting the picture of him drinking and passing out, repeating those four words.
The entire album carries this same weight. As Showalter deftly strides from song-to-song, the listener gets insight into his own life, despite the fact that it is projected onto the wild songs of lore. Also, in case you were wondering, “Alex Kona” is the song that references 12-foot giants and mothers crying. “Daniel's Blues” is about Dan Aykroyd wanting John Belushi to have a role in Ghostbusters, but he had passed away. He sings about who he will get to replace him (But who will I call / Chevy's an ass and Gill has got a cold”). I won't spoil anything else for you, but it is easily the most cathartic song ever written about Ghostbusters. Just do yourself a favor, and, if you are a fan of folk music (Or even doom metal, as he shows he can do that too with the song “Giant's Despair”), just listen to the album and let Strand of Oaks wave of tales drown you in its sound.
--Genesis
Buy here: Pope Killdragon
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