Kansas natives Quiet Corral are guaranteed to impress with their genuine folk-influenced rock ‘n roll and be a great complementing contrast to Motion City Soundtrack on March 21. With influences like folk, bluegrass and Mutemath, these musicians, whose ages range a decade, are smart, intuitive and continue to learn and grow together to find their musical identity.
Recently gaining recognition after their 2010 debut, Quiet Corral has played at South by Southwest (SWSX) and Austin City Limits music festivals. Riding on this success, they have toured with fellow folk-rockers Dawes and soul-filled crooner Gary Clark, Jr.
Considering how ubiquitous the heavily folk influenced rock trend is, Quiet Corral has a niche market in the music industry. And when the lead singer bears his mandolin in a photo, the band goes from Kansas-charming to downright irresistible. However, Quiet Corral goes one step further, blending influences from opposite sides of the spectrum like Sigur Ros or OutKast.
Their expertly balanced blend of southern folk and rock ‘n roll creates a complex sound that all at once takes your mind to atmospheric heights with wailing electric guitars and brings you crashing back down to earth with Jesse Braswell Robert’s emotionally vulnerable voice.
“Carmen’s Bizet” and “FlyBird, Fly,” songs that appear back to back on their self-titled debut EP, show a perfect contrast of their talents and interests. Slamming guitars with fingers flying up and down the neck and too-fast-to-see drumstick movements characterize “Carmen’s Bizet” as an almost straight up math rock number. “Fly Bird, Fly,” however, features their raw talent as acoustic musicians with four-part harmonies and looping, melodious guitars. Songs like the single “City Steep” from their forthcoming full-length album, out this spring, strike a perfect balance between their influences that echoes of the down and dirty hooks and driving choruses of The Black Keys.
Lyrically, their songs span from lost and unrequited love to “singin’ when I came, and I’ll be singin’ when I leave” freedom to endearingly sad reflections on wine and waltzes. With a voice vaguely reminiscent of Nate Ruess of The Format or Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, the vocals are always the focal point of the music. Braswell Roberts’ ability to sound both softly nostalgic and gritty with swagger pulls the listener into the storytelling lyrics. In each song, their lyrics and themes seem to fit perfectly from rebellious, complex rock of “Thieves” to faintly optimistic notes of “Reverie.”
So on March 21, get stoked not just to see the guys that will speak straight to our defiant souls, but also for the up-and-coming Quiet Corral of Kansas. That’s right, be excited about something from Kansas, because their balance of fast rock and laid back country-folk will take you by surprise and catch you singing their unforgettable lyrics and harmonies for days.
Quiet Corral is here to speak to a little part of everyone, whether that is the full body reeling rocker or the hand-clapping, foot-stomping folk lover. Quiet Corral is here to remind us of those nights, as in “One, Two, Three, Oh,” when “we drank until we laughed too loud, and your feel still tapped offbeat to the music floating through the cobbled streets.”
Members: Jesse Braswell Robers, Matt Green, Jim Barnes, Garrett Childers, Zach Mehl, Isaac Flynn
Album: “Quiet Corral” (2010) and first full-length album set to release in spring 2013
Website: www.quietcorral.com