College Times

Issue date: 7/2/09 Section: Music

Media Credit: Nick Helderman

The Raleigh-based Bowerbirds balance on a line somewhere between country and renaissance folk music. It's an enigma. It's indefinable. Basically, it's music after the ever-finicky hipster heart.

Their sophomore album, Upper Air, is a concoction of twangy, metallic guitar sounds, minimal percussion and slow rhythms, making it a fit for sitting on the porch on a rainy day (as if we ever have those in Phoenix. Porches included.) This, combined with heady (and surprisingly uncheesy) lyrics on songs like "Bright Future" and "Beneath Your Tree" don't exactly make it the pop hit of 2009. They discuss ghosts, mountains, deserts and being tied to the bed. You know - your standard Sunday.

Upper Air's songs bleed together, but not in a bad way. They're thoughtfully aligned to tell a story of, well, who knows? The lyrics are like poetry. And who honestly gets poetry?
So if you're looking for the next hipster dance album to shake it while you drink your Pabst Blue Ribbon, you'll have to look beyond Upper Air. It's is better suited for a slow dance whilst weeping. Or maybe sleeping.

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