NEW RECORD: LINES FROM THE FRAME AND OTHER RECORDS – AVAILABLE NOW VIA ITUNES, AMAZON, EMUSIC, LALA, RHAPSODY, NAPSTER, or buy direct at Vintage Vinyl, Euclid Records, or the Undertow Store
Lines From The Frame is the first recording the band has completed in an outside studio. The band solicited help of acclaimed engineer, Jason McEntire at Sawhorse Studios (Son Volt, Ha Ha Tonka, Ludo, Destiny’s Child). As with the two previous records, Frame features the searing and inventive guitar work of John Horton (Bottle Rockets) and is supported by longtime members Greg Lamb (bass) and John Baldus (drums).Kevin Buckley (who also leads Grace Basement) has helped expand the sonic pallette by adding string arrangements. Dave Anderson (Tenement Ruth) makes his debut in the band by providing pedal steel. Glossary’s Kelly Kneiser cameos with background vocals. The record is co-produced by Magnolia Summer guitarist and Finn’s Motel leader Joe Thebeau. The end result is the bands’ most direct and expansive outing to date.
SAMPLE REVIEWS
VINTAGE VINYL
“Magnolia Summer craft eleven songs that merit having the band’s name being mentioned with the likes of R.E.M., Yo La Tengo and Wilco.”
NO DEPRESSION: Magnolia Summer’s Midwinter Contentment:
“Lines From The Frame is the kind of record that deserves to be noticed even by those who haven’t been fortunate enough to see this band live. It’s a well-balanced blend of direct passion and opaque beauty, of simplicity and complexity.”
RFT COVER STORY – by Annie Zaleski (11.05.08) D.I.Y. Now for the Future: The Undertow Collective and Magnolia Summer are using technology to modernize their D.I.Y. creative vision:
“Sonically, Frame is crystal-clear and dynamic. Grabau’s keening, wistful vocals mesh well with mournful violin from Kevin Buckley and the occasional curl of pedal steel. The music ranges from slow-burning alt-country (the Whiskeytown-esque “Like Setting Suns”) to pensive ballads (“Birds Without a Wire,” a gossamer duet with Glossary’s Kelly Kneiser) and gnarled, loud rockers (the wiry “Wrong Chords”). “By Your Side” is a Wilco-like track on which strings explode like a sunrise by the end. The jaunty jangle and springy cowbell of “Pulling Phase to Ground” recall the rowdiest moments of R.E.M.’s Life’s Rich Pageant.”
KDHX Blog by Roy Kasten – Lines From The Frame Review
“There’s a sense of freedom in the crunchy guitar hooks, arcing violin lines (courtesy of Grace Basement’s Kevin Buckley) and the craftsman-like arrangements of power pop and country. Maybe it’s Chris Grabau (he of the songwriting and singing) and John Horton (he of the Bottle Rockets) and Joe Thebeau’s (he of Finn’s Motel) thick and agile guitar parts or maybe it’s John Baldus’s splashing, impulsive drums that puts me in mind of Big Star’s Radio City–though the songwriting is somewhat more philosophical than “September Gurls.†But Grabau’s contrasting images and ideas–decline and ascent, erasure and memory, battle scars and moments of reprieve, time lost and found–have a classic economy and naturalness.”
From Atomic Ned
“I usually cringe when hearing a musician say that there most recent work is the best thing they’ve ever done as I feel it cheapens their previous catalog. But hearing Chris Grabau of Magnolia Summer talk about the writing and recording of Lines from the Frame, I truly believe he stands behind that sentiment even though I thought From Driveways’ Lost View (2006) would be pretty hard to top. This release continues on in the Magnolia Summer tradition of sounding like the perfect soundtrack to a riverfront summer concert, a cooler full of Anheuser-Busch products parked next to the lawn chair. Putting that into a musical equivalent – Magnolia Summer falls somewhere between the spawn of Uncle Tupelo – Son Volt and Wilco.”
Popmatters.com
Lines from the Frame is still another solid album from a band that seems to be on the cusp of something more
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