Colfax

Colfax

The name The Delines may not ring an immediate bell, but its members certainly should. Amy Boone of the Texas-based Damnations is the singer, and Freddie Trujillo is the bassist. Songwriter/novelist Willy Vlautin (of Richmond Fontaine) and Portlanders Sean Oldham, Decemberists member Jenny Conlee-Drizos, and Minus 5 pedal steel man Tucker Jackson fill out the ranks. With these indie-Americana all-stars lined up, The Delines pull together for the skid row nocturnal narratives of Colfax, named after the classic Denver avenue that showed up in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, with promises of kicks and postwar glory for the underbelly. The slow creep of “Flight 31,” the labored, struggling trudge of “He Told Her the City Was Killing Him,” and the left-field choice of Randy Newman’s “Sandman’s Coming” all make peculiar sense from a supergroup who defy supergroup expectations. The only song approaching an upbeat rhythm is “Wichita Ain’t So Far Away,” and even there is a hesitancy; Vlautin’s literary sense doesn’t allow for easy victories, just as his lyrics refuse easy clichés.

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