What originally attracted me to both folk and punk music was the simplicity of the production. There’s a lack of pretense in those genres that allows songs to stand naked and be enjoyed without any added fluff or bluster. It’s this rawness that immediately caught my ear when I first heard the new album from The Far West, Any Day Now. The album’s opener, “On The Road,” has a relaxed western atmosphere and you can nearly feel the dry heat of Los Angeles as Lee Briante sings, “I can see the mountains out my window. The Hollywood sign is out there too.” The whole album is chock-full of solid songwriting, great arrangements that bring out the darker elements of the songs, and production that fits the band’s aesthetic just right. Let a little California sun into your life on this cold February day and check out Any Day Now.
