Moneyball

There are a couple interesting things about Moneyball, the vaguely country-rock-minded Fat Possum debut from California outfit Dutch Interior. The first is the fact that that it rotates singer/songwriters -- five of the bands six members, all lifelong friends based in Los Angeles County, are credited with lead vocals and lyrics. The second is that despite their disparate influences -- slowcore, alt-country, experimental folk, jazz, and Southern rock, to name a few -- they all sit well alongside each other here, due mostly to a dreamy, searching sensibility and a consistent palette that incorporates instruments like pedal steel, Fender Rhodes, and strings alongside a library of guitars (Ebow, baritone, homemade Telecaster, and many more). Still, the musical approaches are constantly shifting, starting off with the slow, drugged-out "Canada," a song that floats between taking in the great outdoors and then dreaming about it (by Conner Reeves, who produced the album). Blurred edges then come into focus and the tempo picks up for the lo-fi, skittery indie rock of "Sandcastle Molds" (Jack Nugent) before the drawling, ambling "Wood Knot" (Reeves) introduces pedal steel guitar to the set while making a metaphor about a man and a tree. Later, Dutch Interior sober up for "Sweet Time" (Noah Kurtz), a brisk Everly Brothers-type outing in cut time, and they lean into experimental territory on the spacy, soporific "Life (So Crazy)" (Davis Stewart), which incorporates mixer drone. That they put those two tracks back-to-back on the album, and that it somehow works, is a feat in itself and speaks to the shifting star qualities of the songs -- a melodic and rhythmic hook here, interesting textures there, an engulfing mood to spare -- even when "Horse" (Reeves), a romantic country sendup set against economic hardship, takes the stage (with an affectionate melody and charmingly rustic vibe). Recorded by the band in their self-made studio in Long Beach and mixed by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Modest Mouse), Moneyball sounds both auspicious and like the 11th album from an unearthed Stephen Malkmus project at the same time, and its hard to imagine they wont have more music on the way. ~ Marcy Donelson