Imagine the early
Palace Brothers playing with
My Morning Jacket's chops and you start to get an idea of what to expect from Canadian three-piece
Elliott Brood. Playing what they like to describe as "death
country,"
Elliott Brood are, like
Palace, obsessed with the dark corners of this life -- alcohol, violence, busted love affairs, family strife, the sadder burdens of history -- but what sometimes seemed like a dramatic affectation coming from
Will Oldham sounds like a harsh but honest vision of the world as seen by lyricist and lead singer
Mark Sasso.
Sasso and his compatriots
Casey Laforet and
Steve Pitkin are able to conjure up a sound that references the past without being bound to it, as the washes of
electronic and found noises mingle with their acoustic guitars and banjos in a manner that's at once spare and full-bodied. And for all the brooding and sadness in
Elliott Brood's music,
Ambassador is an album that offers a glimmer of hope over the horizon, or at least the promise of redemption; this band isn't marketing gloom for its own sake, but offering its own take on a world where the light must struggle very hard to shine.
Elliott Brood's first full-length album is an impressive achievement, and certainly one of the most striking debuts of 2005. ~ Mark Deming
![Come Home to Mama [B&N Exclusive]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0878037027419_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Come Home to Mama [B&N Exclusive]")
