Houndmouth - Little Neon Limelight (2015)

“An album is, or ought to be, a complete picture. It should come in waves, changing its focal point when things get too predictable or settled.” With this statement to Ann Powers that accompanied NPR’s premiere of Houndmouth’s surreal, Dylanesque ballad “For No One,” singer/guitarist Matt Myers - perhaps inadvertently - issued a mission statement for the band’s second album. Little Neon Limelight finds the four-piece stretching out in every direction. Working with producer Dave Cobb in Nashville, they were able to bring the kind of size and warmth that does justice to this batch of songs, worked out over eighteen months on the road, and resonant with joy, hurt, loneliness, glory: all of human ache and loveliness. Little Neon Limelight finds Houndmouth further differentiating themselves from the airtight song structures and shouty singalongs of the current “Americana” scene, treading into territory occupied by not only their Southern rock forebears, but with an attention to songwriting and vocal performance recalling at times The Band, Ryan Adams, Gillian Welch, the Beatles, and the Kinks. “If you want to live the good life, you’ve gotta stay away from the limelight,” Houndmouth sings in the chorus to album track “My Cousin Greg.” With their outstanding new record, and a substantial fanbase that swells with every show they play, it will soon be difficult for Houndmouth to follow their own rule.