Gary Louris - Vagabonds download free

I’ve no idea why so many people shy away from softer rock, especially if it’s done well by serious artists who aren’t just another band for your mom and pop. Case in point is Vagabonds, where Gary Louris is momentarily stepping out of the shadow of Jayhawks, showing that he’s a aesthetic force to be reckoned with.What’s most musically interesting is that the man has embraced a new set of values when it comes to alternative country music, where here he flirts with an attitude of sunshine pop, and this in turn provides Gary Louris with something that feels authentic, yet in the same breath new and resoundingly fresh, boarding on the alternative country realm of Neko Case and Ryan Adams, especially when one considers that Chris Robinson (of The Black Crows) produced this outing, helping Louris to achieve something akin to what The Rolling Stones did on Exile On Main Street, and nearly managed to wakeup the ghost of Gram Parsons, flavoring the album with mid tempo ballads, acoustic jams, breeze laden vibes, honky tonk keyboards and a few fuzzed out chords that blend ever so perfectly with the near gospel-like backup singers. Though that being said, this doesn’t mean that there are not superlative moments and a few unexpected surprises on this release.Running around with artists such as Jeff Tweedy and Chris Robinson, it should be no surprise to anyone that the outstanding number from this album, a song that will haunt your physical being and peek out from under the covers when you least expect it to, is the driftingly intoxicating hymn “I Wanna Get High,” a track laced with a simple dirty shuffle, a number that’s so ethereally resilient that it will nearly make you weep, coming off in much the same manner as Galaxie 500 achieved with their track “Snowstorm,” where the beauty of the most simple things in the world can spark so many contradictory feelings, and precisely places a thumbprint on the musical map of Laurel Canyon, where the album was recorded, allowing this number to sound so timeless you’ll be checking to make sure that it’s not some sort of forgotten song that he’s now covering.And to that end, Vagabonds proves that Louris took just enough carefully calculated steps away from what he’d been doing with The Jayhawks to allow a different light to shine on him, though without moving too far from his roots, and what he does so well. Yes, the album is filled with beautiful melodies, and comes across with a feeling or remorse, yet embracing of a future that’s just introspectively out of reach.Review by Jenell Kesler