Two young Americans – one with a guitar, the other hitting things – plug in and set out on a journey of discovery, digging deep into the annals of American musical history. Sound familiar? Maybe, but – hard as it might be to imagine – there were musical duos before the Whites. It’s a format that suits some, doesn’t others. It definitely agrees with San Franciscans Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel.
What The Toll Tells, their second album, is a joyful, freewheeling experience that benefits as much from what isn’t being played as what is. The pair have toured across the States and back and it shows: this is music with a clear understanding of where it sits in the grand scheme of things. They seem particularly influenced by the ways of the South, taking both its positive and negative aspects on board. The music is just on the right side of ragged Americana: folksy, rootsy and rocky at the same time, while the lyrics talk of Mexican jails, outlaws, mythical cities and, on the standout track ‘Long Summer Day’, vicious Southern racism. All the more remarkable is the fact that the pair are only in their early 20s – still kids, yet able to make music of real depth and knowledge. They’re on their way here soon – sounds like it could be quite a night.