The 1090 Club hail from that hotbed of musical inspiration that is Billings, Montana; a city surrounded by the simple things in life. While Billings doesn't quite have the same level of activity as some place like Brooklyn, that hasn't stopped 1090 Club who have obviously had to look beyond the horizon and outside of the box to get this far. By taking this approach, they've taken their environment and shaped into to something that's as dramatic as the big sky country they come from and turned into something interesting.
Natural Selection, 1090 Club's latest album, reflects this as the songs are sweeping, climactic and striking. Utilizing a violin to it's fullest, 1090 Club create orchestrated songs that rise up with gargantuan swoops of emotion. The songs on Natural Selection sound something like a slightly less chaotic Cursive; occasionally heavy but always artistically and theatrically so. While the violin and a certain degree of aggression definitely play a huge part in creating the drama that surrounds 1090 Club's songs, the contrasting boy/girl vocals only add to the tension that makes the band so thrilling to listen to. As a result of all these elements, Natural Selection comes off as beautiful, expressive stuff that's on the right side of being emotional.
"Positive Reinforcement," for example, captures the dynamics of 1090 Club perfectly. This is a song whose melodramatic piano and violin riffs create an atmosphere of pressure that's relieved with soaring melodies and choppy bursts of distorted guitar. The end result is a song that's tense and moves itself along in an almost quiet/loud dynamic that becomes alluring. While much of Natural Selection is like this and is sweeping, lush, and entertaining it's emotional and dramatic nature can wear you down. While this is not an overwhelmingly cheerful and cheeky effort it is a good record. 1090 Club have created a record that takes some effort to love, but once you invest some time with it you'll come to realize that it's beauty lies in it's heart wrenching intense form pop.
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