The music of Ryan Daniels as Inland Years deserves as much attention as contemporaries The War on Drugs, Kevin Morby, King Tuff, and the like. His newest record, Nowadays is full of DIY rock, all of it quietly affecting and catchy.
Daniels favors an approach that may earn comparisons to Jason Lytle of Grandaddy. The tunes are brief, but they are all expertly constructed, hitting their emotional marks quickly and efficiently. "Breadcrumb Trail" is yearning but wistful, the hook here a bright one, even as the twang of "Morning Train" anchors a more down-tempo gem. Something like "Drove Away" reveals a rougher approach, such that the short song pushes forward with the kind of DIY energy we heard on the best Nineties efforts from Guided by Voices. Still, if Robert Pollard was a Beatles and Who freak, Ryan Daniels sounds like he's intent on instead making indie that transposes a Gene Clark or Gram Parsons vibe onto the form. This stuff is brief, sure, but it's heartfelt as hell.
Ryan Daniels conjures up so much so concisely that it's a shame his material isn't more well known. Fans of any of the acts I mentioned earlier, would eat this record up. For those in the know, Nowadays is another in a string of superb releases from Inland Years. What's here is deceptively simple, but the hooks, riffs, and vocals work very well at creating a mood that's pitched somewhere between wistful regret and brave-faced resilience. Very highly recommended.
Nowadays by Inland Years is out now. Details below.
[Photo: Inland Years]