Search - Wild Frontier :: Spirit of Adventure

Fairly unique

Marion Delgado | Eugene OR | 04/24/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is true Alaskana. That should be enough. It's hard to genrify this music. To a degree it owes a debt to Alaskan "tourist music" as typified by people like Steve Hites from Haines Junction, to Christian music, and to the Alaska Folk Festival scene. It might have been more Alaskanish if there was some of the roots rock that gets played (especially by native Alaskans) in the small town bars all over Alaska, but this would be great soundtrack music for a movie version of John McPhee's "Coming into the Country."All the tracks are worth listening to, although the attempt to polish them overly harms the DIY feeling of the album. A lot of tracks, "Buffalo Soldiers" or argonauts or jack london are kind of inside unless you know who the buffalo soldiers were, or about alaskan boats or about jack london and the yukon. Since this is going to hit a mostly country audience that's in a way flattering assuming they have some academic knowledge.The cut that seems to be played most on country stations is "Out There" which is too out there to take seriously. It's Pat Robertson/militia nut nonsense, even though it has probably the best melody and instrumentation. All the rest of the tracks are normal.BTW this is not roots rock and not comparable to "the Band" at all (as the lybot review said). The Band had a firm blues heritage. On the contrary, it's the unique blend of influences and the novelty of style that makes Wild Frontier worth listening to."