REVIEW: Comanche Moon — “Middle of You” (SINGLE)
“Sometimes I feel so temporary / I got to find a way to last” croons an honest voice beside the soft strings in Comanche Moon’s “Middle of You,” the latest single to join this Texas panhandle favorite’s growing discography of gems. Rather than trying to rehash a familiar country narrative in this folk-rocking track, Comanche Moon are getting as confirmedly personal as a band can without running the risk of sounding self-indulgent, and proving that there’s still a place for profound emotionality in alternative Americana. They’re two albums into their career, but this taste of their latest work might be their best so far.
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The guitar parts in this single are captivating but not overstated, working mostly as an accompaniment to the vocal rather than a show-stealing agent of evocation on their own. I do like that the percussion and the bassline don’t swallow up the texture on the strings but instead coexist with it, much as we would expect to find in a live performance of this material. Without being too overtly raw in presentation, Comanche Moon are giving us something unrelentingly true to their natural sound here, and that in itself is worth a bit of praise this season, all things considered.
If you’ve been missing some swing in your life, this groove has got just enough to get your hips into the harmony of the band in “Middle of You.” The percussive pulse cultivating the beat in this song is formidable only in the sense that it’s equal to the vocal in the climactic moments of the track; otherwise, it’s a supporting character much as the six-string is. There’s nothing wrong with utilizing an old school formula when you’re good at it, and Comanche Moon reminds us of this without fail here.
The harmonies between our singer and the melodic instrumentation beneath his every word speak to the old guard Americana in this group’s sound, and I like that it isn’t saddled with a distinct hipster aesthetic in “Middle of You” for anything. This feels like a slab of honest, unfiltered emotional folk music that wasn’t made with some greater artistic concept hanging above its story; Comanche Moon don’t just want to be real troubadours, they are real troubadours who just happen to have a modern electric outlet for their expressiveness. It unites old and new beautifully, and sans the saccharine coffee house vibes much of the competition is sporting.
There aren’t enough folk-rock acts like this one around in the mainstream right now, but what Comanche Moon are putting together in the studio is more than enough to keep me satisfied on those long summer drives through the California redwoods or the Louisiana bayou the same. “Middle of You” is a cut off of a definitively American soundtrack, and although it’s far from the only such piece you can get your hands on this summer, it’s one of the only releases I’ve reviewed this August to have left me feeling excited about the emerging folk-rock movement in the underground as it stands today.
Colin Jordan
