The Loose Salute: Tuned to Love (Graveface)
release: June 5, 2007
styles: gentle Americana indie pop
similar: Call and Response, latter day Mojave 3, Oh Laura
rating: ***1/2
Ex-drummer of Mojave 3 and (near the end of its existence) Slowdive. I'm so in. Like Mojave 3, the Loose Salute goes the way of soft and sunny country-leaning pop (and Mojave 3 also has a record with "tune" in the title). Pedal steel, bells, Farfisa (?) and xylophone all surface here, while the quintet is just as strong with the somber, quieter efforts as they are with lively pop numbers. Although drummer McCutcheon does sing, he teases us with some vocals on the opening of Tuned to Love, then sits back and lets Lisa Billson handle the majority. He returns for lead vox a few times, where his singing could be the result of listening to lots of Ian Brown and Nick Drake. Good times. -Kenyon