• Artist: The New Year
• Album: The New Year
• Label: Touch & Go
• Release: 2008
• Links: Official Site, MySpace

It is hard to write about The New Year without referencing Bedhead, the band that Matt & Bubba Kadane fronted from 1992 to 1998. There is no reason to skirt the topic though. Bedhead were a brilliant band and many of their trademarks are still present in The New Year’s music. The New Year are no slouches though. Their last album, 2004’s The End Is Near, was among the Kadane’s best, thus setting a high bar for their new self titled effort. The New Year finds the Kadane’s building heavily on the piano flourishes of its predecessor. Although it doesn’t pack as many punches as that album, it should be no surprise that The New Year is another consistent entry in the Kadane’s catalogue.

The Kadane’s are notorious for long instrumental sections followed by brief moments of poignant lyrical insight. Guided by the steady drumming of Chris Brokaw (Codeine, Come), “Folios” begins the album in this fashion. This track is followed by “The Company I Can Get,” the album’s first single and one of its best moments. “The Company I Can Get” is as accessible and compact as the Kadane’s have ever been, but it works remarkably well. If there is one song that sticks out in a negative light, it has to be “The Door Opens.” Not to split hairs, but it is simply too repetitive and I’m not a big fan of the the intro. “MMV” ends the first half of the album and is one of several tracks to focus heavily on the piano.

I was a bit underwhelmed by this stripped down approach at first, but it definitely succeeds in helping to establish the album’s mood. “Body And Soul” and “My Neighborhood,” two similar tracks, are even more effective and show that the Kadane’s can do more than lead a guitar assault. The album ends with “The Idea Of You,” a perfect closer that releases the tension of the previous nine songs. When the words “It’s not that I’m dying to be younger” are uttered, you’ll realize that The New Year is a logical extension to The End Is Near and a fine one at that. There’s more piano, but the themes of nostalgia and regret are still intact, as are the sonic fingerprints that the Kadane’s have been building on for the last sixteen years.

The New Year are on tour this fall and will be at DC9 on October 21st.