Déjà vu again
For anyone who has heard Israel Nash Gripka’s previous albums; this will, to put it bluntly – blow their minds!
Unlike both of those offerings, which were ‘good’ and showed a promising songwriting talent; “Israel Nash’s Rain Plans” is a rite of passage where Gripka has created a Wall of Sounds that could best be described as the CSN&Y album that Neil Young should have produced but never did.
Gripka’s voice is superb throughout and on some songs he manages to create harmonies that only Crosby and Nash have ever managed; in my opinion and the guitar playing is hugely influenced by Neil Young and Frank ‘Poncho’ Sampredo with enough feedback on the rockier songs to choke a goat.
All of the songs are fragile things of rare beauty and show hidden depths that are warm and full of character; especially the epic title track Rain Plains and Iron of the Mountain.
On Just Like Water Gripka takes the Alt. Country template and turns it in on itself with a timeless song that could have been recorded in any decade since the 60’s but sounds as fresh as the title dictates.
My copy of “Israel Nash’s Rain Plans” doesn’t include a listing of the musicians who were involved; nor indeed the producer; which is a damn shame as everyone concerned here deserves a big pat on the back as it has all the hallmarks of an album that could catapult Israel Nash Gripka into the big leagues.
#By the power of the internet I now know Israel Nash Gripka produced the album himself and Joey McClennan (guitar), Aaron McClennan (bass), Josh Fleischmann (drums), Eric Swanson (pedal steel) and engineer Ted Young all helped make this a truly unforgettable album .
Loose Records
http://israelnash.com/
UK Release September 30th
US Release – sometime in 2014!
The Rocking Magpie 