The
Winter Blanket has undergone dramatic changes in its six-year career,
and the evidence is Golden Sun,
a transitional EP that could prove as important to the band's
direction as "Good Vibrations" was to the Beach Boys.
When band members Doug Miller and Stephanie Davila migrated from the Quad Cities to Minneapolis in 2002, one would think the move to a colder climate (for a band named The Winter Blanket) would have resulted in starker, more somber music. Golden Sun, as evidenced by the title, is anything but.
Opening track "Sleepy Eyes" kicks off with a distorted guitar groove and a light keyboard melody falling like snow. As the drums kick in around the one-minute mark, Davila's vocals break through the fuzz. Her singing sounds confident and essential. The band has grown into itself. Doug Miller's guitar playing has caught up with his imagination, and Davila's vocals sound soothing and sultry without being self-conscious.
Recorded by Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine, Red Red Meat) in Chicago, Golden Sun is the sound of a band in the midst of great change; original bassist Kim Murray and drummer Paul Blomquist, who played on Golden Sun, have recently been replaced by Dave Campbell and Todd Hansen.
Once Miller and Davila moved to Minneapolis, working with Murray and Blomquist - who remained in the Quad Cities - became impractical. Miller wanted to take The Winter Blanket to the next level, but there was no way for members 350 miles apart to practice regularly.
While still remaining true to its slowcore past, the band has figured out how to make heavy sound light and airy. "Cold" is an upbeat number for any group, but for The Winter Blanket, it's a barroom brawl. The heavy guitar grooves present on "Sleepy Eyes" are here even more rambunctious. Davila's vocals barely hang on to the melody, which threatens to twist out of control at any moment.
The title track finds things slowing down again, a much more recognizable sound to Winter Blanket fans. Each drumbeat falls with enough space in between to fill a small galaxy. The addition of the lap steel helps draw the tempo out even further as Miller and Davila share vocal duties. And while Miller's vocals are a bit too breathy on other songs, that nuance only adds to "Golden Sun."
The song builds slowly, and eventually The Winter Blanket is right back where it started on Golden Sun. Dirty guitar leads and rockin' drums, and the lap steel bends and whines with plenty of momentum to drive off into the horizon.
According to Miller, because of the changes in the lineup, the band opted to pick the "cream of the crop" and release Golden Sun as an EP. The Winter Blanket need to get back into the studio as soon as possible to capture the magic that is happening here. Their playing and their songwriting have never sounded better.
The Winter Blanket will play RIBCO on Friday, November 3. This will be the band's final show with original members Kim Murray and Paul Blomquist. For more information on the band, visit (http://www.blanketmusic.com).
Culley Smith is a music writer and runs a local Web site (http://www.theairstrange.com).
