22.12.2024

And the War Came

By Shakey Graves

Alejandro Rose-Garcia (aka Shakey Graves) didn’t take the straight path to the country world. He went from playing late-night open mics in New York to joining the underground LA freak folk scene while looking for acting gigs before finally settling in Austin — the perfect setting for his lo-fi Americana. Shakey Graves’ mix of those three cities tends to make his music a bit of a hodgepodge of influences and places. His previous full-length and EP were lo-fi folk excursions, experiences where Rose-Garcia displayed both his excellent musicianship and dreamy, heartfelt songwriting.

His new LP, "And the War Came", slides in and out of clean, foot-stomping folk, lo-fi, freak folk, bluesy rock, and quiet, personal bedroom pop. All are well-written in their own way, though the record starts to feel inconsistent as it goes on. Perhaps Alejandro Rose-Garcia would be better off sticking with a single style for longer than a song or two because — at only, essentially, 10 tracks — the wide variations inflict some whiplash.