The Delta Saints are not what they say they are. Delta? Absolutely. But saints? One might call them “cautionary tales” long before the term “saints” ever came to mind; however, there is something devout about their bayou rock, a dirty, distinct sound they’ve zealously refined on their debut full-length, Death Letter Jubilee. Ben Ringel (vocals/dobro), Dylan Fitch (guitar), David Supica (bass), and Ben Azzi (drums) each moved to Nashville for college in 2007 and first found common ground as old-world-loving, good-bourbon-swilling musicians. As the searing harmonica and howling vocals of their live show began garnering notoriety, The Saints rode their roots rock wave right into the studio. On the heels of 2009’s Pray On EP and 2010’s follow-up A Bird Called Angola, the band toured tirelessly, playing more than 150 shows a year, including a slot at Arkansas’ Wakarusa Festival and two summers headlining in Europe during which they performed on the long-running, renowned German TV show Rockpalast.
The title track is by far the most magnetic on the album. There’s something eerie about its cacophonous Orleans-inspired chorus, the warm buzz of harmonica, the tinny trumpet whine, and the way one can’t help but be swept away by the utterly irreverent revelry. “I love songs where sonically you get one emotion from it, and then you look at the lyrics and it’s not at all what you expected,” Ringel says of the song’s musical inspiration. “And everybody has certain emotions that they’re not proud of. The idea that you can be glad about somebody’s ultimate demise… it’s such a negative thing, but everybody feels something a little like that.”
Yo La Tengo – Stupid Things (Fade, Matador)
Besnard Lakes – You Make Loving Fun (Rumours Revisited, MOJO Magazine)
Bleeding Rainbow – Drift Away (Yeah Right, Kanine Records)
Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside – Party Kids (Untamed Beast, Partisan)
The Delta Saints – Death Letter Jubilee (Death Letter Jubilee, self-released)
The Lone Bellow – The One You Should’ve Let Go (The Lone Bellow, Descendant)
D. Watusi – Danny Kokomo (Dark Party, Nashville’s Dead Records)
Parquet Courts – Borrowed Thyme (Light Up Gold, What’s Your Rupture?)
Ra Ra Riot – Beta Love (Beta Love, Barsuk)
Toro Y Moi – Say That (Anything In Return, Carpark Records)
Night Beds – Ramona (Country Sleep, Dead Oceans)
Christopher Owens – Lysandre (Lysandre, Fat Possum)
Tender Trap – Step One (Ten Songs About Girls, Fortuna Pop!)
The Delta Saints are not what they say they are. Delta? Absolutely. But saints? One might call them “cautionary tales” long before the term “saints” ever came to mind; however, there is something devout about their bayou rock, a dirty, distinct sound they’ve zealously refined on their debut full-length, Death Letter Jubilee. Ben Ringel (vocals/dobro), Dylan Fitch (guitar), David Supica (bass), and Ben Azzi (drums) each moved to Nashville for college in 2007 and first found common ground as old-world-loving, good-bourbon-swilling musicians. As the searing harmonica and howling vocals of their live show began garnering notoriety, The Saints rode their roots rock wave right into the studio. On the heels of 2009’s Pray On EP and 2010’s follow-up A Bird Called Angola, the band toured tirelessly, playing more than 150 shows a year, including a slot at Arkansas’ Wakarusa Festival and two summers headlining in Europe during which they performed on the long-running, renowned German TV show Rockpalast.