Paradoxically, twang has become the new black in independent American music. “Indie rock” remains as splintered as ever, and playing your rock songs with a hint of southern touch is one of the directions that some bands have gone, perhaps in the absence of many popular legit, down-home country artists.
 
Limbeck leads the way in this movement.  After all, they adopted the sound a while ago.  They followed their emo-punk debut This Chapter is Called Titles with 2003’s Hi, Everything’s Great, which first gave the band the description of the artistically acceptable “alternative country.” Limbeck provides the sort of endearing, jangly melodies that have become expected of the band, but as the band releases its fourth album, it would be nice to see them being a bit more adventurous.

For this self-titled release, Limbeck appropriately brought their Americana tunes to the heartland.  Black Lodge Studios in backwoods Eudora, Kansas was where the band holed up with longtime producer Ed Rose.

Immersing themselves in the plains yielded a number of songs with the feel of Middle America.  Take “Let Me Come Home;” the clean guitar sound and harmonized lyrics of woe make this one feel like it could have been lifted straight from the catalog of Tom Petty. The same could be said for “Bird Problems,” which, like many songs throughout the disk, almost feels like modernized Johnny Cash tune.
 
The song from Limbeck that has “hit” written all over it is “Big Drag.” That would seem obvious, in that the band’s label, Doghouse Records, has released the song as a single, but it showcases everything the band did right on Limbeck. It exemplifies the band’s relaxed sound, adds a bit of excitement with a big, wound-up ending, and employs some unique, catchy instrumentation, most noticeably a baritone saxophone.
 
A number of the songs here can really be pretty accurately described as “nice.” The chorus of “Reading the Street Signs” is impossibly cheerful, and the song is the clearest example of a heavy Beach Boys influence.
 
While a lot of the songs throughout Limbeck are “nice,” they grow a tad monotonous.  By the time the eighth track, “Let’s Get Crazy,” rolls around, one can’t help but feel that they’ve already heard the vocal melodies from the chorus in an earlier song.
 
Limbeck is clearly a band full of really laid back dudes who sound like they love what they do.  Hell, if “Your Story” is any indication, they might be the most satisfied group of men west of the Mississippi. That ease translates itself to the music in whole, and while it often produces top-notch pop tunes, one must wonder if it also results in a bit of complacency. 

limbeck.net