Cause To Listen

Hailing from Birmingham and previously known as Old American Dream, Wild Sweet Orange, busts unto the scene releasing the ambitious freshmen recording, We Have Cause To Be Uneasy. The album’s emphasis lies on a perfect sense of distorted identity and disdain. Fueled by failed touring, childhood memories and suburban dissonance this quartet unravels their influences to eager listeners. Whether its progressive chords, thoughtful lyrics or contemporary genre splicing, Wild Sweet Orange’s indie-rock offering has something for everyone.

This surprisingly deceptive debut album resonates to musicians and appreciators alike. The opening track ‘Ten Dead Dogs’ will lull listeners in to thinking, hearing, and questioning, “Radiohead wannabes?” The rumor is quickly dispelled by the up tempo and uplifting ‘Tilt’ - belonging on every mix-tape from here to Helsinki. Most of We Have Cause… is constructed around the recipe found in ‘Tilt’ and anchored by lead vocalist Preston Lovinggood’s ability to burst into fits of scratchy schizophrenia on the microphone. (i.e. slow blissful melodies that build up and then explode into tactful well-placed scream-singing) However, the record has loftier goals found in tracks like ‘An Atlas to Follow’, which shares a banjo and harmonica advertising the Southern culture and grassroots upbringing of the group. We Have Cause… stretches further still, serving up the slower, sadder, accordion laden ‘Sour Milk’ leaving listeners emotionally ready to weather the thoughtful, poetic lyrical hailstorm found in the remaining tracks. The reason this album works is the same reason why peanut butter taste better with chocolate -sweet, sensitive melodies and salty, not whiny vocals leads the listener to a dream world where The Smashing Pumpkins morph with Snow Patrol and the end result is one Wild Sweet Orange.

Inspired or provoked by blandness, We Have Cause To Be Uneasy is a flavorful mixture of many musical herbs and spices exciting the taste buds with a warm and full-bodied experience. These Alabama natives supply deliciously smart music for an audience with variety and style on the brain.

John Niederkorn