By Alexandra Edwards
If the critics peg you as the next big insert-seminal-indie-band-here, is it all downhill from there? Is there any way to step out of a shadow you never meant to get under in the first place?
These were the questions that The Rural Alberta Advantage were most definitely not contemplating this past Friday night at the Drunken Unicorn. The band released their debut album Hometowns in 2008 to a veritable avalanche of Neutral Milk Hotel comparisons, most of them favorable, but nonetheless intimidating. Lesser bands might have let the comparisons get to them, but not the RAA. Friday night found them here in Atlanta for the first time, doing what they do best: forgetting all about the critics and just playing as hard as they can.
The band set up quietly in front of the small crowd, pushing all their instruments to the front edge of the stage: Amy Cole on the left with a tiny keyboard, tiny marimba, and one big floor tom; lead singer Nils Edenloff in the center with microphone, Casio keyboard and acoustic guitar; and a small but powerful drum kit on the right for Paul Banwatt. They began with an energetic sing-along, trading beats on the floor tom, setting a tone of intimacy and casualness. But as Banwatt kicked in on the drums at the end of the opener, the walls shook and the crowd perked up.
Edenloff explained the stories behind some of the songs, most of which were about central and northern Alberta, Canada. His loud, nasally wail is occasionally reminiscent of Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum, but as the RAA played through their hour-long set, it became clear that they have imagery and style all their own. Songs like "Edmonton," "The Deadroads" and "The Dethbridge in Lethbridge" painted eerie but beautiful pictures of growing up in rural Canada. Oil booms and busts, sarcastic town nicknames, dead grandfathers, and empty streets — all butted up against joyous beats and that surprisingly aggressive acoustic guitar.
In the end, it's to our advantage that the RAA has sidestepped those shoes the critics tried to make them fill. They're much too good in their own way.
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