Leatherbag

Folk-Rock, Indie, Alt-country, Retro, Classic, Americana

Leatherbag_cropped_

If Bruce Springsteen had debuted with Nebraska and worked backward to Thunder Road, you might have some idea of how Leatherbag's sound has developed. Reynolds says he has been listening to a lot of Velvet Underground, The Modern Lovers, and The Feelies, and he calls his style one of 'new sincerity.' He is disarming about his sound; "The only thing I'm setting out to do is what's happening naturally." His folk-Americana fans aside, Reynolds insists, "I'm doing what I've always been doing, but now it's in a more palpable format."

Leatherbag still plays Americana, though now it's evolved along the Springsteen-Dylan-Reed model of punchy beats and fuzzy electrics. One listen to 'On Down The Line' and you'll hear how unabashedly Reynolds' influences inform his playing. Jangly numbers like 'Here Comes Change' on Leatherbag's latest EP, Tomorrow, build on the gritty, hard electric sound of it's predecessor. "The thing that we're doing isn't a kitsch band," he says.

Love & Harm, which Reynolds says is "very much a transitional record," gathered its share of praise, with KUT calling it one of the year's best 'smart rock' albums. That label belies the fact that anyone with three stones in his skull could enjoy a night inside The Mohawk with one of the city's biggest little-known names.

---Jacob Cottingham, NPR

At A Glance

RIYL: Modern Lovers, Velvet Underground, The Replacements, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty

"The sound: a frenetic garage-rock charge reined in by melodies that early Wilco would be proud to call its own. If you're looking for indie rock in horn-rimmed glasses, look no further."

--David Brown, NPR

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