Treasury of Music #9: The American Drag

Back in 2010 I discovered Bandcamp, an excellent platform for (self-)releasing music. In a video, where they showcased a new feature or something, they had music playing of this great Rock/Pop band, The American Drag, with melodies and harmonies that intrigued me right from the start. I immediately checked both their albums out, which they had available in full for free streaming, and soon after that I bought them both and gladly gave a little bit more money than they asked for. So this is a great example of how this name-your-price business model, which I am a huge fan of, can work wonderfully – I never would have known their music, bought it and become a fan if they had not given me the chance to listen to it online.

What I like so much about their music is their ability to craft something that is both radio-friendly / suitable for the masses (in my opinion) and yet always interesting with unanticipated phrases thrown in there ever so often. (Interesting side note: The intro guitar theme of Tied To A Stone subconsciously came to my mind and fingers right after my father died almost exactly four years ago and I played it then for a while next to his bed. I always wanted to make a song out of it until I realised months later that the music already existed.)
A couple of years ago the band was working on a third album, but that sadly seems to have come to a halt. So you have to make do with what there is so far, but since in their 105 minutes of released music there isn’t really a weak one, that’s quite alright. I still had to throw out some songs for this playlist (to keep it at CD length):

• Enemy’s God
• Drive
• Take Your Medicine
• Get Your Monies Worth
• Out Of The Sky
• Post Runaround Let Down
• Tied To A Stone
• Forgotten One
• Salesman
• Carton Horse
• Greed
• 17 Bars
• Throwing Fables
• Awake
• Dakota
• Sorry Again
• Fill Me Up
• Hottest Day Of The Year