Every week, Medium will post a story or review from the vault, #tbt style. This week: a review of Holy Ghost Tent Revival's album, Sweat Like The Old Days, written by former Diversions staffer Thompson Wall. Originally published on the Diversions blog on Aug. 22, 2012, this review is in anticipation of the Fourth of July show at Cat's Cradle this Saturday, featuring Holy Ghost Tent Revival and other bands.
4 stars
Holy Ghost Tent Revival is best characterized as a folk band that strives to challenge the definition of folk itself. Showing explosive growth from the band’s first release in 2008, So Long I Screamed, HGTR’s second full-length album, Sweat Like the Old Days, melds the goodness of Bourbon Street-style jazz and Appalachian folk into a solid toe-tapping release.
“Alpha Dogs,” the lead single, soothes the ears with themes of folksy bar anthems. Other songs like “Come Tomorrow,” an acoustic guitar lullaby with sugary-sweet vocal harmonies, are juxtaposed against electrifying tracks like “John Addams Family,” an old-school rock depiction of historical themes with a delectably bad attitude.
The Greensboro natives add their trademark Dixieland sound to the traditional acoustic folk of old-school Avett Brothers and Old Crow Medicine Show with some horns and a few drinks.
Timeless as the record sounds, it maintains the lush animation and instrumentation of contemporary indie rock, providing an invigorating modernity that prevents the album from sounding the least bit stale. It’s a celebration of times and relationships come and gone, delving into a musical box of memories with effortless style.
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