Notable Local Releases from Little Big Toe, The Blind Tellers

Don't Overlook These

I haven't been running as much as I used to. I won't bore you with the reasons, but it's not purely laziness. That has meant that I don't get to as many albums as I did in the past. It may be weird, but a nice, solitary run is maybe my favorite way to experience recorded music.

I don't want my declining fitness to penalize some really deserving local albums, though. Here are a couple of recent releases that you should definitely give a listen.

Little Big Toe, Blind Sober

Accidental Seabirds' guitarist Jimmy James Cutrera is a big part of that band's dense and varied sound. On his latest release as Little Big Toe, Cutrera takes on most of the instrumental duties himself. He gives us 18 varied tracks that range from instrumental opener "a blind man's words are a sober man's thoughts" to the tight, compact "bodies exhibit." to the expansive "having your cake" to the sad and forlorn "barstool paperweight" (which contains the great line, "The words never spoken have clearly exposed the fakeness disguised as a friendship."). The jazzy "pulled hamstring" is a particular standout for me.

The mostly instrumental "am / pm" closes the record; and its outro especially, like many moments on the album, makes me think of the early 70s prog rock I used to be so into. The difference here, though, is that the sound is made more personal, stripped of its bombast and silliness by Cutrera -- who had to go as far as learning the drums to play them on this record -- in what is clearly a labor of love.

You can stream / purchase Blind Sober over at Little Big Toe's Bandcamp page.

The Blind Tellers, The Blind Tellers

Bagpipes, organs, strings, horns, lap steel. The Blind Tellers self-titled EP has a big, soulful sound underscored by the big, soulful voice of Matt Gentile. Opener "Here with You" comes on almost like a sermon, Gentile declaring, "Wait a minute now. I won't choose to be used by you this time around," before Dominic D'Angelo's horn comes in and the song swirls around his playing for its second half.

Guitarist Devin Crosby manages to coax some varied tones out of his axe, from the southern rock sounds on "One More Time" and "All We Said" to a hint of Hendrix on the opening of "Sunday Sorrow." Lap steel, harmonica, and some lovely vocals from Jamie Coppa give closing track "Angela" the feel of a windswept, dusty road.

The Blind Tellers bring some instrumental virtuosity and complex arrangements to American blues rock. They keep things interesting, even changing things up within individual songs.

You can stream / download The Blind Tellers over at Bandcamp.

I'm gonna try to work my way back to plodding around the neighborhood on the regular. That should be good for a weekly album review or two. Though, I may have to stick with EPs during the first few weeks. It's gonna take a while before I'm in good enough shape to make it through a whole LP on a single run.