Songs Of The Wild West Island. 12 idiosyncratic new songs of hope, despair, resurrection and a 2-headed calf. Including the haunting duet, "Only Lovers" featuring Sarah Harmer.
Loomer prove it pays to persevere, their sophomore release picking up where the last left off. Anyone savouring a hickory wind over the tang of jet exhaust or wide-open spaces to city skylines will rejoice in Loomer’s lonely sound, blending world-weary with a dark horse joie de vivre. Consider “Bang The Nails” (one of 12 pristine, rock solid originals underscoring a distinctly powerful songwriting talent), which erupts into an otherworldly blend of McGuinn’s Byrds and McCulloch’s Bunnymen torn and further twisted by Jim Whitford’s delicious pedal steel. From out of the gloom bursts “Anastasia,” its delicate petals pushing sunward in one goose bump-inducing love song that transforms into a vast, sweeping anthem. The sticky confection that is “Caramel Heart,” suggesting Ron Sexsmith on peyote, transforms itself into an oversized hook of dramatic proportions. “Old Grey Ford” injects banjo into the band’s mix, adding a down-home feel while providing an uplifting foil to Loomer’s poetically mournful temperament. The energy-laden “Dirt Angel” is a full-on charge recalling L.A.’s Long Ryders, Mike Taylor’s keyboard assault standing tall, while the simple, straightforward “Turnbuckle” boasts a sweet chorus and pedal steel/piano accompaniment that evokes Gram mid-burrito. Triumphant highlight “Sunday Driver Down” is a joyful, full-throated, four-minute vision of grandeur that burrows deep into the brain. Wild West Island may not, in fact, represent the Second Coming but it’s surely a stone’s roll away. (Newtone)
Exclaim Magazine
"Songs of the Wild West Island, the band's sophomore effort, is a consistently challenging and poetically lovely work, full of literary allusions and just the right amount of alt-country swagger....Sounding like a beautiful amalgamation of the Gourds and Arcade Fire, Songs of the Wild West Island is a heady and heartening display of emotion and quiet intensity. Rarely settling for the norm, Loomer makes music of a distinct quality, songs that assess the past, present and future with equal apprehension." – Darryl Smyers, Dallas Observer
"Like his south-of-the-northern-border brethren, Scott Loomer and his crack band understands the electric and eclectic web that connects the power of rock to the passion of country to the introspection of folk and the inherent wisdom in throwing them all into the musical cement mixer to see what happens. In Loomer's case, it's alt.-country perfection." - Brian Baker, Country Standard Time
"What sets Loomer apart from the usual alt-country mold is that they revel in and even celebrate the non-country contradictions in their music. On the hypnotic Caramel Heart for example, they lock into a propulsive groove where the drums hang in lockstep to an urgent bass line and a Hammond organ and the pedal steel guitars ride over top like late era Velvet Underground taking a walk with Gram Parsons. While they transcend themselves on more occasions than just the one here, the bottom line is that in between a few cowpunk stompers, straight ahead ballads (including one with a gorgeous counterpoint vocal by Sarah Harmer) and the above-noted cosmic cowboy melting pot, Loomer on Songs of the Wild West Island show signs of grace and greatness unheard since late-period Uncle Tupelo." - Bob Klanac, Scene Magazine
