"Deep Forest Green and Mily, Milky White: Magnolia Summer's palette abounds with startingly fragrant colors"

Magnolia Summer is the rare band that can tone down its jangle to suit an impromptu living-room gig -- and then just as easily crank up the amps to rock out at St. Louis' notorious dives.
But even as that same dichotomy aligns the quartet with other hardworking Americana faves, its keep grasp of emotional nuance sets it apart from the pack. Furthermore, Magnolia Summer singer-songwriter Chris Grabau reports that the band's upcoming Undertow Records album, From Driveways' Lost View," feels a bit more like a band record. The basic tracks were recorded together as a band, which I suppose lends itself to that concept. I'm very fortunate to have such great friends to play music with. I think it's a great representation of Magnolia Summer as of now."
Indeed, View includes tunes brimming with wistful twang, rich piano melodies and hints of R.E.M.'s baroque-pop era. "Thematically speaking and sonically speaking, I wanted to add a couple more colors to the palette for this one," Grabau says, "I wanted this concise rock record that had some songs that were really louder and more focused than the first one (their 2003 debut, Levers and Pulleys), but I didn't want the record to be relentless. I'm not always a rock writer. - Annie Zaleski