Two Gallants

It was only a matter of time before San Francisco natives Adam Stephens (vocals, harmonica, guitar) and Tyson Vogel (drums, vocals) cemented a top-tier spot in the pantheon of Americana. With their fittingly eponymous record, they've at last fully realized the potential hinted strongly at in The Throes, What the Toll Tells, and The Scenery of Farewell EP. If these past records frequently evoke the dusty traditions of folk and punk--train-riding hobos, carefree wanderlust, buried and violent secrets--Two Gallants only hones this focus. True, the album regularly relapses into a similarity of key, tempo, rhythm, and interval: "Miss Meri," "The Hand that Held You Down," "Trembling of the Rose," and "Reflections of a Marionette," for example, play like an extended medley of variations on a single musical theme. But songs like "The Deader" and the rough, almost impressionistic "My Baby's Gone" exude singularly grabbing charisma. Stephens' every next vocal melody grittily evokes lament after tragic lament, and Vogel's drumming bursts forth in burp-gun flurries, very nearly melodic in its driven acrobatics. In all, Two Gallants' indelible storytelling marks one the year's most unapologetically traditional--and ultimately unforgettable--albums. --Jason Kirk