The Autumn Defense
Label: Broadmoor
Length: LP
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Autumn Defense, The
You can’t fault today’s musicians for mining the past. Music radically changes from decade to decade and while punk bands may be uncovering the same old ground, the more musically astute still find new variations on old themes. The Autumn Defense, the musical duo of Wilco’s John Stirratt and Pat Sansone with fellow mellow-rock sympathizers, shamelessly travels back to the early ’70s with what feels like a stack of Bread records under its arm. Stirratt, Sansone, et al. play like seasoned studio pros, the piano setting the pace, the organ trilling behind, the harmonies stacked to the wall and the rhythm section stopping on a dime. Orchestration brings out the songs’ minor grandeur (‘We Would Never Dieâ?�). Alt-country elements sneak through (‘City Bellsâ?�) with the occasional pedal steel, but this is the smooth end of that overworked genre, dangerously close to the Eagles’ loitering vibe. But all can be saved with a decent melody, which these guys still manage to include, some three albums in.
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2007.