Single Review

The Crooked Brothers – The Postcard EP

• 28th Apr 2014

The Crooked Brothers are a trio of folk musicians from Winnipeg, Canada, who play an old style of country and blues influenced roots music. Jesse Matas, Darwin Baker and Matt Foster all write songs, all sing and all play a wide variety of instruments, and so their music features a lively mix of guitars, banjos, mandolins, dobros and harmonicas. The band has been together for seven years, but are not too well known in the UK as yet.

The three track Postcard EP is a series of limited edition postcards featuring original artwork by the band themselves, as well as other artists and musicians from Canada. They are limited to only 100 of each design, and the postcards include a download link that can be passed along once a listener has downloaded it. These guys seem to have a thing about promoting mail and the postal service.

Opening song There Ain’t No One is described as the first happy song that the band has ever recorded. An upbeat harmonica driven love song with acoustic guitar backing, it has a tenderness that comes through strongly. I Think I Need To Be Alone is slower and with a much deeper style of vocal delivery. It sounds like an old country standard. The third track, If I Had Known is the pick of the EP. A gentle tale of heartbreak, it features lovely vocal harmonies on the chorus and great banjo backing.

The Crooked Brothers will be a new name to many UK music fans. They are clearly a trio with a great range of songwriting skills and their sprightly roots sound will come across well in the live setting. Catch the band at The Great Escape festival in Brighton next month, or at a couple of London gigs just beforehand.

Venue: The Postcard EP
Support Band: self