There's just some things about running your own music website that make this so worthwhile. Like when you find a new band (at least new to you) that is on one of your favorite record labels. Oh, and their new album is produced by another of your favorite musicians.

 

That's my background with Hush Arbors, who just released Yankee Reality on Ecstatic Peace. The album is produced by Dinosaur Jr mastermind J Mascis (who also appears on a hanful of tracks). And if you want to call me a homer for picking this one out and telling you its great, then call me a homer because Yankee Reality is a fantastic disc.

 

I fell for this album from the moment it hit my speakers, but didn't really find the magic until I was driving to work Saturday morning through an early October snow.

 

What I found was the calmness and peace associated with Hush Arbors sound (which revolves largely around vocalist Keith Wood) became ever more obvious when struck with the cold reality that winter was upon us. Maybe it was the beauty of seeing the still leaf-covered trees draped in a wet, heavy snow, or maybe it was my own lack of sleep. Then again, maybe it's just that Hush Arbors are that good, but that day, it was obvious to me that Hush Arbors had something special.

 

The band's sound draws some similarity to J Mascis and the Fog, but a bit more casual like Hayden. Yankee Reality takes a brief moment of clarity to inhale, but upon digesting the ten tracks included here, it's truly easy to fall for the peaceful hooks and Wood's casual, stare at the clouds and wonder vocals.

 

One listen to tracks like "Lisbon" and "So They Say" is all it takes to find the inner peace that comes from Yankee Reality and once you have it, you won't regret it.