In 2004, Defiance, Ohio released Share What Ya' Got. While I really enjoyed the record, I often found that the production quality was very weak and it definitely hampered the appeal of the record for many more potential fans. Two years later, the bands' latest effort and second full-length, The Great Depression, seems to have erased the slight complaints I had with their first record and quickly found it's way on my early "Best of '06" list.
With much better musicianship and far better recording and production quality, the Defiance, Ohio sextet wrote a record that easily matches the great previous efforts by fellow folk-punk genre artists and influences This Bike is a Pipe Bomb and Ghost Mice.
Perfectly incorporating such instruments as the violin, the double bass, and the cello in their songs without losing a single ounce of intensity and passion, Defiance, Ohio easily manage to waltz through thirteen songs of fun and top-notch folk punk while keeping your mind aware and your heart happy.
"Oh, Susquehanna", one of the standout tracks on The Great Depression is a wonderful violin, cello, banjo and harmonica laced track with an interesting vocal arrangement which sees half of the song being sung by one of the male members (all the band members sing so it's difficult to pinpoint who sings what without seeing them live) and the rest by Sherri, the banjo, guitar and cello player for the band. The cries of " Oh, Susquehanna" throughout the song are vibrant and resonate with heartfelt feelings.
Lyrically, the band does not stray too far away from their genre covering issues such as consumerism, urban development, politics and religion in a rather intelligent manner. The singing is often off-key and a bit on the rough side but only adds to the genuine and passion-filled feeling of the album. The shared vocal duties are really quite impressive, giving the impression that all songs are sung with strong feelings of urgency and importance.
The Great Depression is a damn good record. Until the end of the very last song, the band members seem to thrive off of each other's energy writing powerful songs that capture their audience. The record is available for free off the band's website as well as other live sets and previous releases. I've heard lots about their amazing live show and dream at the thought of seeing them play these brilliant songs live in a small, sweaty and crowded room. That would be awesome.
