Made up of members of the more metallic/Warped Tour-flavored bands Dropping Daylight and Somerset – hey, don't we all grow mellower and twangier with age? – American Scarecrows come into their own on their second album, "Yesteryear."
The record is loaded with polished, radio-friendly jangle-rock of the BoDeans variety, but there's also a nice sprinkling of violin- and pedal-steel-tinged country-rock and rowdy Gaslight Anthem-style anthemic garage-rock. Frontman Seth Davin (brother of Dropping Daylight leader Sebastian Davin) has a sandy, nice-guy voice that belies his many tattoos. He writes in a sort of Mellencamp-of-Minnesota style, evident in the love song "Chesire" and this track posted below, "Gods of the West," in which he sings about wooing a girl by taking her fishing in his grandpa's boat. I'd like to meet that girl.
American Scarecrows will promote "Yesteryear" Thursday at 7th Street Entry with openers A.M. Taxi and the Usual Things (8 p.m., $10-$12).
