The Future Kings of Nowhere

Best of the Tar Heel State: Top 10 albums

Section: Diversions

10. Seth Kauffman, Research (Park The Van)
For the entirety of Research, Seth Kauffman rides a loose, funky groove built with ramshackle percussion, vintage R&B melodies, and arrangements borrowing from rockabilly and blues.  It’s a remarkably singular effort, especially considering it borrows elements from so much.  The album’s lo-fi production aesthetic augments Kauffman’s mid-range moan and lends the record an air of timelessness made more profound by the subtle charm that comes with Kauffman’s consistently engaging songcraft.

9. Between The Buried And Me, Colors (Victory)
Between The Buried And Me has long been hailed as metal’s greatest hope in the Carolinas, but it took Colors, BTBAM’s epic fifth album, to prove it.  Traversing varied musical landscapes from death metal’s brutal blast beats to the most harmonic elements of prog rock, Colors is the rare metal album welded together with wonderful surprises.

8. Filthybird, Southern Skies (Red Strings)
Filthybird has the ultimate gift in lead singer/songwriter Renee Mendoza. Her voice drifts delicately but inescapably, like smoke aloft in a darkened room for 10 sensuous psych-country ballads.  Mendoza’s excellent songwriting doesn’t hurt, either.  But Mendoza is far from Filthybird’s only strength.  Brian Haran offers just the right touch of crunchy Southern-fried guitar, drenched in reverb and in perfect harmony with Mendoza’s vocals.

7. Sweater Weather, Now, Everyone Can Sing (Self-Released)
Sweater Weather’s stunning debut LP is nothing if not a labor of love. The eight-member mini-orchestra spent years perfecting the recording, and the end result is nothing short of astounding.  Casey Trela’s voice conveys a dynamic range of emotions, all of which culminate in a cathartic release of joy as bandmates fall into lockstep behind him, their instruments creating a palpable swell in the songs capable of overwhelming whatever venue dares try to contain the sound and the presence of Sweater Weather’s music.

6. Nathan Oliver, Nathan Oliver (Pox World Empire)
On Nathan Oliver’s self-titled debut, the band brings frontman Nathan White’s version of indie rock to the forefront.  And that vision is pure, built around White’s guitar paired with a pounding rhythm section and Mark Lebetkin’s viola.  White’s yelps and screams add flair and dynamics to his deceptively brilliant songwriting.  Nathan Oliver holds 10 songs that bounce and dart into dark corners, proving this isn’t even close to standard singer/songwriter fare.

5. Schooner, Hold On Too Tight (54?40′ or Fight!)
Schooner is a band of opposing dualities: Reid Johnson’s worn-and-weary croon paired with sister Kathryn’s sweet harmonies; dark emotions lurking behind charming pop tunes.  On Hold On Too Tight, the band spins 16 yarns of heartbroken, bleary-eyed indie rock, delivered with a hopeful sheen, dripping reverb and buoyant melodies.  It’s the kind of recording that comes from love lost and found in a small town, from coming to grips with life’s finalities and from hitting a remarkable stride as a band.

4. David Karsten Daniels, Sharp Teeth (Fat Cat)
Sharp Teeth got more attention for its shocking cover art (done by Bowerbirds’ Beth Tacular) than for the music behind the sleeve – and that’s a crying shame.  The album is a layered effort that builds upon Daniels’ lyrics with the crushing weight of damaged love delivered by an orchestra of friends able to lift the lonesome songwriter into bursts of cataclysmic beauty.  Powerful crescendoes, perfectly placed strings and horns and friendly group harmonies deliver memorable hooks and tender pop for the duration.  But Daniels is the star here, never trading intimacy for bombast, making Sharp Teeth as affecting to the heart as to the ears.

3. Bowerbirds, Hymns For A Dark Horse (Burly Time)
With a sound that seems to have sprung as gently as a seedling from the Piedmont soil, Bowerbirds deliver an understated charge in their acoustically inclined folk music.  Phil Moore (formerly of Ticonderoga) carries the songs with the restrained power in his voice and deliberate finger-picked guitar, while Beth Tacular and Mark Paulson offer warm harmonies, as well as accordion and percussion parts that help the already delightful music go down easy, while descriptions of natural beauty urging for environmentalism slip in with the sweetness of the melodies.

2. The Future Kings of Nowhere, The Future Kings of Nowhere (307 Knox)
The self-titled debut from Durham’s Future Kings of Nowhere explodes with a defiant resignation and never lets up.  From the group-sung bombast of “Lather, Rinse, Repeat”‘s “f–k it all” refrain to the heartbreaking scene cast by “Emily,” Shayne O’Neill writes with a poet’s attention to detail, a psychologist’s attention to emotion and a punk rocker’s disregard for complex song structure. Power chords and the truth do more here than they have since Joe Strummer last took to a stage.  Any heart that’s ever been broken by a lover, a friend or The Man will find solace and catharsis in The Future Kings of Nowhere.

1. Little Brother, Get Back (ABB)
Recovering from the loss of producer extraordinaire 9th Wonder and the loss of a major label recording contract, Little Brother (now the duo of MCs Phonte and Rapper Big Pooh) came back with a vengeance, delivering a fiery re-introduction in the form of Get Back.  It kicks off with “Sirens,” a venomous accusation to fairweather fans and frustrated defense of hip-hop highlighted by impeccable flow and inventive lyrics like, “They try to blame this rap s–t for all of our ills/Like I could stick you up with a mic/Like I could rape you with a verse or use a verb as a knife.”
But it’s not all rage for Durham’s finest. “Good Clothes,” bounces along a cheery horn-and-handclap beat with undeniable finesse and a sarcastic humor: “I still got stone-washed denim, a patent leather Member’s Only jacket/Ain’t nobody fresher than me”  The duo delivers on all accounts, with a sharp eye for detail, smooth delivery and a self-deprecating wit that can only come as the aftermath of a deflated ego.  Mostly though, Get Back delivers the kind of rap that surfs in the wonderful commercial purgatory of realism. Its greatest strength is its relatability – Get Back brings the audience into it, instead of merely offering empty fantasy.