Styrofoam Winos :: Any River
Photo: Hilary Bell
Nashville, TN-based indie icons and transcendental trio Styrofoam Winos have been conjuring their blistering brand of “Volunteer State” sounds for the better part of a decade, since their stellar self-titled debut on the beloved Ryan Davis (State Champion, Tropical Trash, RD & The Roadhouse Band) Sophomore Lounge imprint back in 2021. While summoning the spiritual sonnets and one-liners, liberations found within the final resting place of our beloved David “Cloud” Berman, the group breaks through the sleeping silence with their own tonal takes on the prophecies of poetic pursuit. Consisting of songwriters, multi-instrumentalists, poets, and longtime pals Joe Kenkel, Trevor Nikrant, and Lou Turner, the group has been chiseling away at the sophisticated stone of Nashville’s DIY music scene, revealing a beautiful bust of a lyrical limestone statue that stands mighty and tall during these rather dark times, that one day, we’ll look back on as a mortal means of understanding just how complex, and difficult our society truly is. I suppose this is where music steps in, as a radical response to the past, present, future, and beyond, but how do the Winos feel about their particularly unique place in this unfiltered universe? Hard to say, but their highly antiquated third album, “Any River,” sincerely rings into that victorious void with a boisterous bell that embodies the greatness of their peers, while simultaneously exploring the epicness of their critical contemporaries. While employed at JJ’s Market and Cafe, a decades-old Midtown legend located at 1912 Broadway, which ultimately closed just a few years after the group had started, the trio would eventually locate their lyrical legitimacy and become one of the community’s most acclaimed acts, with their latest effort eagerly securing them in place.
Photo: Madame Sample
Like an open sign at your favorite local eatery or watering hole, its ritualistic reverberations flashing feverish strobes across the dark streets after a night of reflective rainfall, where you can see your mortal mug in the purple puddles of collected water, as onlookers catch wind about a band in rolling into town that would have made even J.J. Cale crack a splintered smile. Recorded, engineered, and mixed by Jim Marlowe (Tropical Trash) at End of an Ear in Louisville, KY, home of Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Ryan Davis, Joan Shelley, and Nathan Salsburg, to name a few, last summer, the album and its atmospheric anatomy shape-shift below the southern stars of Kentucky’s kinetic kindness, while simultaneously solidifying a stark status within the “The Big Bend State,” and critical communication to the clouds that hang just above our heads. Featuring tracks like “Off My Mind,” “I Felt You,”“You’ll Never Take Me Alive” and the album’s orbital opener “Pearls,”“Any River” takes listeners on a journey through the wild jungles of the heart, where never-ending nods, and brim tipping to the subconscious sights and sounds of our heroes can be felt from any mile marker, or cultural checkpoint as long as you keep your eyes peeled back, and your ears close to the ground.
https://styrofoamwinos.bandcamp.com/album/any-river
