Taking cues from the likes of Springsteen and Petty before them, C.K. & the Rising Tide develop palatable Americana that just about anyone can sink their teeth into. It isn’t without its contemporary flair, of course, featuring reverb-friendly production that accentuates the nostalgic ties each song natural develops with its listener. Singer-songwriter and frontman C.K. Flach’s vocals speak well to the northern New York heartland that they hail from, acting as the staple of a band so inherently centralized upon concentrating those picturesque prairies into song.
Luckily, fans of the band get plenty of what makes the Rising Tide with their new LP, American Romance. It’s an aptly titled piece of work, as evidenced by the effusivity of its homegrown sentiment above. That much is evident right from the get-go, as well, with opening tune ‘Road to Damascus’ infused with a homey gospel flair before breaking into a melodious and sepia-toned mid-tempo rocker. Flach carries an intrinsic knack for mellifluous and evocative songwriting, and he carries himself with the same sort of relaxed agency that mainline roots artists like Zac Brown and Jason Isbell are so easy to provocate.
This is Americana that innovates, but not beyond reason. More or less, it’s a natural extension of where the genre has left us in our past generation of greats. Some new production frills notwithstanding, this is bonafide alt. country as we’ve known it, curated by a band of promising new faces. For those on the lookout for soulful Americana with an actual heart in its step, C.K. and the guys serve up a real slice of modern storyteller’s country from the unsuspecting state of New York.
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