Listen to the Thunder

iTunes Review

Seattle isn’t often thought of as a country music town, but the nine-piece Maldives will surely make a case for the possibility. The Northwest band’s 2009 album, following an earlier self-titled album and EP, is every bit a convincing piece of post-Band country rock n’ roll. From the opening harmony attack of “Goodbye” through the pedal steel fueled rockers (“Time Is Right Now,” “Do You Still,” “Tequila Sunday”) and the sullen bar room weepers (“Cold November,” “Say Nothing,” “Whidbey Island Blues”), the Maldives are a top notch addition to a tradition that includes the Jayhawks and Drive-By Truckers, and that shows no signs of slowing down as long as the songs arrive. Singer-songwriter Jason Dodson returns to his Virginia roots and takes his large but never cumbersome group along for the ride, carving out a piece of musical real estate just west of the Long Ryders, Jason and the Scorchers, and other important bands of the genre. Harmonies, fiddle, accordion, harmonica and, naturally, pedal steel all make for genuine rustic good times of the back porch variety.