 |
|
Photo courtesy of the band
|
Flint, Michigan’s Empty Orchestra made my best of 2011 list year with their stellar One More Time All Together Now, but flew under the radar a little besides that; this year, the record is getting a deluxe vinyl re-release, and I want everyone to pay attention to it. It’s part punk, part country, and all heartache and longing, this record, and “The Ballad Of Bulls Run” is a perfect example.
It opens with a wordless humming chorus, muted hand claps, and explodes at the 20 second mark into a fury of guitars and organ, followed by the fury of frontman Stephen Wisniewski’s vocals. “The Ballad Of Bulls Run” is the perfect storm of punk rock country auto industry protest song, and if it doesn’t show up on the Justified soundtrack next season, there’s a music director out there failing at their job, and someone should give it to me instead.
Stream “The Ballad of Bulls Run” below, and make sure to check out the full record, which is fabulous.