By Kendall McCabe
Once there was a band named Page France. Then, they had a side project called the Cotton Jones Basket Ride. Now, there is a full-time project called Cotton Jones, fronted by Whitney McGraw and Michael Nau of Page France.
After releasing a slew of EPs, the duo put out their first full-length in 2009. The album, Paranoid Cocoon, was called “transition music over a costume change” by Pitchfork.
And they were right.
Fully dressed, their latest effort, Tall Hours In The Glowstream, is a mix of 50s pop and lo-fi folk. McGraw and Nau showcase their vocal best, with subtly nuanced melodies that build on each consecutive each song. Instrumentally, their songs are a haze of retro organ sounds and jangly yet distant drumming that sound like a filmy, far off memory.
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Pepper Rabbit is an up-and-coming Los Angeles-based group comprising Xander Singh and Luc Laurent. They’re headed for big things, including touring with Ra Ra Riot and hitting SXSW in 2011. Their sound “plays like a patchwork quilt woven from their adventures, whether it be featuring the horn section from a Bayou funeral procession or a chord progression borrowed from Southeast Asia.”
Skye Carrasco is an Iowa City violinist, poet, and woman about town.
Cotton Jones will be playing Thursday at 7 pm at the Blue Moose Tap House for $8 in advance or $10 at the door with Pepper Rabbit and Skye Carrasco. The show is 19+.
For Your Consumption
Cotton Jones
Pepper Rabbit
