Tin Star Orphans — Yonder

Every once in a while, I like to take a CD from CHARTattack's review pile that I've never heard of before. It's an entirely vain process, where records are judged solely on band name and cover art. Tin Star Orphans immediately caught my attention and I excitedly took the album home.

This re-release of last year's Skywalk To Crescent Town debut (which came out when the band were called Yonder) combines rugged alt.country guitars, Zachary Bennett's gnarly rock 'n' roll vocals and smooth, beautiful strings in an unusually rough-yet-pretty fashion.

Yonder starts strong with an instrumental piece that builds a sombre mood. It winds through a series of crunchy rock songs and solemn ballads, and never abandons that country flair.

I'm not sure how I'd missed this band before. "Let You Down" was featured on an episode of One Tree Hill in February, but the standout track, hands down, is "If Only." It's ripe with eagerness and energy, a testament to TSO's ability to defy genre borders. Yonder ends with an instrumental that's spiced up with horns.

Tin Star Orphans are proof that it can pay to judge albums by their covers.

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