Roadkill Ghost Choir: In Tongues
On breakout track “Beggars’ Guild,” Florida’s Roadkill Ghost Choir hit the sweet spot between Mumford & Sons’ power-folk and My Morning Jacket’s passionate post-Southern rock. But on the band’s debut LP, In Tongues, the quintet is exploring the latter head-on. In Tongues sounds like the kid brother to MMJ’s classic It Still Moves: It’s a modern take on Americana flush with pedal steel guitar, spacey keys, churning percussion and Andrew Shepard’s (admittedly Jim James-sounding) vocals. Shepard is an ace here—his voice an ethereal gust of wind blowing through these stormy songs. Lead single “A Blow to the Head” showcases Roadkill’s strengths: an open, atmospheric rock groove, a wonderfully catchy melody and a raucous bridge where the band tears the whole pretty picture to shreds.