Sometimes the best way to feel truly moved and changed by a record, is by listening to it while going for a walk. It’s strange that it took until 2020 for an album to be created with this specific activity in mind, but it was absolutely worth the wait.
Silver Scrolls (Dave Brylawski of Polvo, Black Taj and Idyll Swords on guitar and vocals and Brian Quast of Polvo, Vanilla Trainwreck and The Cherry Valance on drums, guitars, vocals, organ and bass) draws from a wide and varied palette of rock sounds to illuminate the highly transportive Music for Walks.
Tracks like “Walk Two (I – Nature’s Promise)” slam with an intense in-your-face drum sound while the guitars and vocals glow with a psychedelic sheen, sounding like something off of a mid-80’s Meat Puppets record. At other points, like the hazy “Walk One (II – Q Scrolls)” the duo grooves around an electronic beat with chiming acoustic guitars and Elliott Smith-esque harmonies, like a more terrestrial Wet Tuna.
As the album title promises, these songs make for a perfect walking soundtrack. Each song is already beautifully suited for taking your thoughts on a journey, so the moment when you slip your earphones on and walk out your door, your mind is already miles away thanks to the band’s heavy beats and hypnotic guitar solos.
If you dig the inventiveness of bands like Antietam, the acid-laced side of Screaming Trees and Guided By Voices’ songwriting capabilities, then Silver Scrolls’ Music for Walks is essential listening. Pre-order yourself a copy ahead of its Friday release from Three Lobed Recordings. You will not regret it.
-KH
Record Crates United 