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North Lawrence Midnight Singers

By Doug Wallen

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Sep. 17, 2008

When the hook-happy Philly band Cordalene split up a while back, its members drifted inevitably toward other musical pursuits. Bassist Jeff Anderson stepped up his rock-PR career in New York, singer/guitarist Michael Kiley embraced piano-led pop with his gorgeous project the Mural and the Mint and guitarist Jamie Olson and drummer Joe Boyle stuck together for a new chapter called North Lawrence Midnight Singers.

Mistakenly called a jam band at least once already, the Singers are actually an especially relaxed country group taking equal inspiration from Buffalo Springfield and, yes, early Grateful Dead. The boys are best summed up by a song from their new self-titled record: "That Old Time Living Room Sound." Olson truly sings and leads the band as if a baby were asleep in the next room, and the others--Boyle, bassist Tim Meachem, guitarist Todd Zamostien and keyboardist Mike Milach--follow suit without a hint of stress.

Recorded locally by Bill Moriarity (Dr. Dog, Man Man), the eight-song mini-album is as calming to listen to as it must have been to play. That's not to say it's dull; the opening "100% Mobile" trots happily along to tangled guitar work and Olson's carefree ode to the road. "All Day, All Night (Nickels And Dimes)" is another breezy singalong, but the following "Brotha Jaybo's Tune" deftly fingers a resonant chord of melancholy that makes it the band's best song, if not its happiest. "We don't die alone/ I used to believe that," sings Olson at first, later deciding on this advice: "Reach out to the closest/ And you won't be alone."

Country is criminally absent from Philly these days, and it's refreshing to hear how much love North Lawrence Midnight Singers have for the genre's story-heavy songwriting and bittersweet wryness. At a time when retro-minded bands are primarily rehashing '60s psych and garage, these guys are reaching back even farther.

Fri., Sept. 19, 9pm. $8. With Kenn Kweder, Hezekiah Jones + Josh Olmstead Band. M Room, 15 W. Girard Ave. 215.739.5577. www.themanhattanroom.com