Modern artists are always itching to be the first ones to take the next creative step forward, but Frontier Ruckus finds innovation by taking a step back and focusing on the serene past in its third album, Eternity of Dimming.
The double album is pumped with enough stories to fill the pages of a book as a tribute to suburban adolescence, with benevolent bluegrass as the book’s cover and sentimental nostalgia as its binding.
The band’s leader, Matthew Milia, welcomes listeners into his soft memories growing up in rural Michigan throughout the album.
The easy-going “Granduncles of St. Lawrence County” highlights the candidness of innocent summers as “roofers jump in the seaway at midday in their jean shorts to cool down.”
An additional complement to the album’s calm nostalgia is the congenial “If the Suns Collapse,” a light yet noble folk ballad that is concise and stands out from other songs’ verbose detail.
By combining traditional folk arrangements with compelling and continuous narratives, the band creates a fusion of folk that stands out from its commercial counterparts.
By emphasizing the power of language, Milia adds another dimension to the current folk community that is commonly bounded by lyrical simplicity.
While Milia injects scenes of “a pine tree straighter than a mascara applicator,” his high and wavering voice is usually hit or miss. However, his delicate vocals add fragility to songs that would otherwise come off as ragged rambles.
With a double album of 20 songs, it’s impossible to avoid a few fillers, which inevitably make the listener question whether Eternity of Dimming could have been slimmed down.
However, without the album’s duller transitions, its modest yet extraordinary counterparts like “In Protection of Sylvan Manor” might unjustly go unnoticed. While the album may literally seem like an eternity to some, a great deal of respect should be handed to Milia for pouring out that much detail and sentiment into so many admirable songs and, ultimately, personal memories.
Dive Verdict: ???½
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