Click, whirrr. Â Click, whirrr. Â Like some aural Polaroid the recently released third album from upstate New York band Eastbound Jesus spits out snapshots of life in northern rural America that quickly take on the patina of nostalgia even when they’re new. Â Northern Rock is as much about stories set to music as it is songwriting. Â That’s a subtle distinction, but the effect is to create an album that feels like a reminiscing session among friends who grew up in the same small town.
Musically the record is full of foot-tapping, hand-clapping melodies tied together by the banjo riffs of Luke Anderson. Â It’s not that the other instruments play any less a part in the overall sound, it’s just there’s something binding about the banjo parts throughout the disc. Â A little to the left of this center is an old-timey sound like on Where the Winter Goes. Â To the right is a rock-laced Americana sound of songs like Waitin’ On the Sun that reminded me of early Tom Petty or his Mudcrutch alter ego.
I think it’s the stories that really shine on this album, though. Â 54 Miles tells the tale of a fan going to an EBJ concert (and has a kind of hall of mirrors feel when the band sings about going to see said band). Â My Old Pickup Truck could be a bluegrass anthem to well-loved vehicles everywhere. Â Talkin’ To John About the Weather gets a little more philosophical when it goes into the difficulty of trying to create the sound of winter when it’s not snowing, or singing about the virtues of whisky when there’s not an open bottle in front of you. Â My favorite is probably Sittin’ By the River, which is about, well, just sitting by the river and enjoying what life is sending your way. Â Or maybe it’s a metaphor for something deeper and I just never felt the need to probe it any further. Â Same thing.
 Eastbound Jesus clearly has a great attitude about their music.  Their first album was called Greatest Hits, Volume 1.  Where this has progressed to on Northern Rock is a record without pretension that’s just a lot of fun, and perfect for your summer listening pleasure.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.