Monday 7/27: Slight Of—"Americana"
Today, we share our thoughts on a new song by the Brooklyn indie artist Slight Of.
Welcome to Endless Scroll, the brainchild of Eli Enis (he/him) and Eric Bennett (they/them). Since Feb. 2019, we’ve been a weekly podcast about music, the internet, and where those two things intersect. Now we’re, also a M-F newsletter about songs. Our format is simple: a link to a song and a short take from each of us about what we think of it. Each day of the week has a corresponding genre: Monday is indie, Tuesday is punk, Wednesday is hip-hop, Thursday is pop, and Friday is misc.
Today, we share our thoughts on a new song by the Brooklyn indie artist Slight Of.
Slight Of—“Americana”
Eric Bennett:
Slight Of is the project of Jim Hill, a Brooklyn-via-Rochester musician who also plays in Trace Mountains and Painted Zeros. Both acts put out incredible records this year, and “Americana” makes me think Slight Of just might too. The track is warm, folksy and sweeping. This is not typically a vein of rock that grabs me right off the bat. There is only so much rock acts can do by absorbing country flavor and pedal steel, but Hill meets a delicate balance. His vocals are equally distant and slightly distorted, with a vocal tone that suits this style well. (Additional props to Dadstache Records, one of the few labels doing cool things while existing in Upstate New York.)
Eli Enis:
I was first introduced to Slight Of via their 2017 record Life Like, which found intergenerational harmony between ‘70s fuzz-pop and ‘90s indie-rock. This new song “Americana”, off their record out later this summer, pulls more from the former era, recalling the half-baked nod of Neil Young and even the group vocals of the Grateful Dead. The track has a woozy yet taut groove to it and Hill has a dusky yet restrained singing style that’s quite hypnotic and smooth. Lyrically, he paints a portrait of the modern American failson, musing about how a marijuana habit has left him (or the narrator) sleeping in his car and ultimately crashing it. The track ends with a big ole guitar solo that’s flanked by thunderous Phil Collins drums. It’s awesome. In one, sense “Americana” is kind of a groovy, squinty-eyed tune, but it’s arranged, recorded, and produced exceptionally well and there’s a ton of life in the performances. If you liked that record by The Berries last year, this is right up your alley. Either way, give this sucker a shot.