Shop our Big Takeover store for back issues, t-shirts & CDs
Follow The Big Takeover
Austin’s reigning Americana champs, So Long, Problems, split the songwriting and find their sweet spot on Ashes in the Rearview.
The Problems charge right out the gate with album opener, “Draw.” With the band quickly coaxing up _Being There_-era Wilco, band leader, Mike Schoenfeld, proclaims, “We don’t draw/Worst of all/We don’t try.” Singer-songwriter and co-conspirator, Graham Weber, strikes gold next with the plain-spoken melodies of “Giving Up.” The track catches Weber admitting, “I’m giving up on everything/I just want to quit it all,” with lead guitarist, Dylan McDougall, perfectly complimenting throughout.
The two songwriters of SL,P hit pay dirt several more times over the course of the album especially on Schoenfeld’s resonant, “Pretty Little Knife,” Weber’s hooky “Catcher’s Mitt,” and the record’s clear-cut winner, “Rose.” A song penned by Schoenfeld but delivered by Weber, “Rose,” shows a band making choice decisions based on the song, not the limelight.
The songwriting combo of Schoenfeld and Weber mixed with savvy song choices make Ashes in the Rearview a first-rate release.
