The last time we heard from Timothy Showalter’s Strand of Oaks on the Bacon Top 31 was not for his last album, but the one before that – his groundbreaking fourth album Heal, which hit #15 back in 2014. The album that followed, Hard Love, was rather forgettable (literally: I‘d forgotten all about it until I sat down to write this review). It’s hard for an artist to recover from releasing an amazing album like Heal and then follow it up by a lackluster one, and it sounds like Showalter had a particularly tough go of it in the aftermath of that 2017 album.

Battling with depression and exhaustion, he sequestered himself on the Jersey Shore. He used that negative energy to fuel his songwriting, and channeled it into this new, amazing 2019 record Eraserland. Showalter was not shy about his depression, and wrote about it on Instagram when commenting on the suicide of other greats, such as Dave Berman of the Silver Jews and Mark Hollis of Talk Talk (although Hollis’s death has not been confirmed a suicide). Of Hollis’s death, Showalter went so far as to claim the Talk Talk album Spirit of Eden changed his life and the tone of this new album:

Spirit of Eden is a prayer and a discussion with existence and it was the singular gateway for me to do that with my own life. Eraserland’s DNA is interwoven with Mark Hollis and the gifts he gave through music … I urge any of you who haven’t heard it to dig in, perhaps before you hear Eraserland to understand and perhaps find that communication with your own existence. Music saves it truly does. Thank you Mark your work will continue for the rest of time.

Sage advice, for sure. For now it sounds like Showalter is doing better, thankfully. If you’re a current fan of the Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, Kurt Vile, or an older fan of My Morning Jacket (just to name a few), you’ll love Strand of Oaks and this new album. It’s powerful and moving, in the best way that a wailing guitar, heavy drums, and reverbed voice can be.

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26. Dogrel by Fontaines DC
27. You’re the Man by Marvin Gaye
28. Big Wows by Stealing Sheep
29. 1000 gecs by 100 gecs
30. In the Morse Code of Brake Lights by The New Pornographers
31. Radiant Dawn by Operators

Subscribe to the 2019 Bacon Top 31 Apple Music playlist
2009-2018 Top 31s

Heal by Strand Of Oaks

The album at #15 is the work of one man, Timothy Showalter, otherwise known as Strand of Oaks. This is his fourth album, the first one he’s recorded for Dead Oceans Records, and the first one that’s hit my radar. This album is first and foremost a rock album. There are so many references to other works, from 70s classics to 90s alternative, it’s difficult to classify this album as any one thing, other than it’s phenomenal.

According to wikipedia, the power found on this album stems from a near-fatal car accident Showalter and his wife endured a year ago Christmas. He was apparently in the studio to record days after the accident, and it’s easy to see how that experience could fuel the creative process.

There are great guitar solos, keyboard licks, quiet interlude and anthemic choruses throughout this album. It’s solid, through and through. Showalter grew up in Indiana, and currently resides in Philadelphia, which may explain the obvious Springsteen and other small-town American rock found within. Give this album a couple of listens. From the very first note, you’ll be hooked, but it’s the ups and downs across the length of the album that really make it what it is.

You can check out a couple more videos from the album, in addition to the one above. Here’s “Shut In” and “Same Emotion.”

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16. Stay Gold by First Aid Kit
17. This is All Yours by ∆
18. Brill Bruisers by The New Pornographers
19. Only Run by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
20. Augustines by Augustines
21. El Pintor by Interpol
22. I Never Learn by Lykke Li
23. Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes by Thom Yorke
24. The Voyager by Jenny Lewis
25. Voices by Phantogram
26. Morning Phase by Beck
27. Hungry Ghosts by OK Go
28. Run the Jewels 2 by Run the Jewels
29. Cosmos by Yellow Ostrich
30. Teeth Dreams by The Hold Steady
31. With Light & With Love by Woods

2009-2013 Top 31s

#25 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — Strand of Oaks

#15 on the 2014 Bacon Top 31