A Country Western – “The Dreamer”

Photo by John McSweeney

A Country Western could have stayed the course with where they were going on An Insult to the Sport, their 2022 split alongside peers They Are Gutting a Body of Water, in offering another helping of new wave shoegaze that’s spilling out and above the modern Philly underground scene. Listeners of a certain interest would have welcomed it with open arms. It’d end up on a dozen branded playlist alongside all of the music that sounds just like a daydream run through a blender. Instead, A Country Western are “The Dreamer” itself, and a lucid one at that on the lead single off their new album, Life on the Lawn. Think the Men shrugging off the in-the-red noise-rock on Open Your Heart once everyone caught on to what they were doing with Leave Home. Still rigid at its edges, their guitars clean up well, the hooks dig in, and a line of electronics lead to powering up the pop as the four-piece honor the fundamentals of garage and indie rock while still sounding like their own thing. “I was always a dreamer / But you called me a loser,” sings guitarist and vocalist Derek Hengemihle. Hedging their bets on doing themselves, whoever said that got it wrong.

A Country Western’s Life on the Lawn will be released March 29th on Crafted Sounds.