Heartbreak Bugaloo (Skeleton Farm Records) marks the first collaboration of two talented artists: Aaron Behrens (Ghostland Observatory) a vocalist, and the guitarist, Jonas Wilson (Lomita, The White White Lights). Together the duo is known as The Midnight Stroll, previously ‘Aaron Behren and The Midnight Stroll,’ and these two artists- who have previously worked in everything from EDM to glam to bluesy indie to pop- have come out with one excellent creation of contemporary rock n’ roll this time around.
What makes this album clearly distinctive is the dramatic and emotional vocal work complimented by discordant guitars. The tunes laid out by Wilson’s heavy playing are successfully attention grabbing and allow the range of the vocals by Behrens to shoot out in different directions and play over the octaves, being especially dynamic in ‘Losing My Mind’ and ‘Just Hang On.’
The emotional eight track album is perfectly summed up by the final track, ‘Sparkle and Fade’: here the rock duo adds in a piano bit with stripped vocals that eventually raise into a cathedral-filling, crescendic feel, at last expressing all that sadness you’ll have accumulated by the end of Heartbreak.
It’s quality rock music from two of Austin’s most respected, and enough to earn them Artist of the Month for June here at The Deli Austin, so listen below to ride through this emotional roller-coaster.
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Chandana Kamaraj