By Jordyn Turney, 19, reporting from Alpine, CA, on indie rock going western
As far as music goes, I have fairly eclectic tastes. I like indie (Loquat, Rogue Wave, and Rilo Kiley) and top forty (Coldplay and Leona Lewis). I love country, but I also have a penchant for the songs in musicals. I listen to Lenka and Lady Gaga on the same playlist.
And now I've found more music to love. Through the wonder that is Facebook and old friends, I've discovered an indie-rock band, Alaska and Me, whose songs I've had on repeat the entire morning. I'm also slightly geeking out over them because they also hail from my small Arizona hometown of Show Low, which made me instantly curious to hear what sort of music they'd put together. As soon as I found out, I was more or less hooked.
Their second EP, I Will Die in the West, features six songs, and all of them, from the slow Last of the Breed to the plucky Electric Cowboy, are repeat-worthy. The sound and lyrics are decidedly western, as favorite topics of lead singer Tyler Cos are cowboys and a lost era. I know it seems odd to say that rock music sounds western, but trust me, this does.
After I bought I Will Die in the West, I went fairly insane looking for their first EP, Actors, which isn't on iTunes. Eventually I found it on discrevolt.com.
Sadly, literally minutes before I was going to send this post off, I checked the band's blog and found out that they broke up just days ago. The music they produced in their three short years together is wonderful though, and if you're interested in bands with the sort of sound perfect to play in the background of your life, you'll definitely want to check out the now-departed Alaska and Me.