Feature Friday: Midtown Dickens

Band: Midtown Dickens
Style: Anti-Folk, Punk, Bluegrass
Albums: "Oh, Yell!" and "Lanterns"
From: Durham, NC
For Fans Of: Kimya Dawson (from the Juno soundtrack), Bon Iver, The Mountain Goats

Once again we find Feature Friday featuring another impossible-to-pigeonhole Durham band. Midtown Dickens started out as Kym and Katherine, growing since their inception and the release of their first full length "Oh, Yell!" the band has grown to a quintet upon the release of "Lanterns."

Midtown Dickens falls into a unique category called "anti-folk." Anti-folk takes folk traditions and twirls them around with a mocking, punkish attitude. The instrumentation is a bit more elaborate (with saw, horns, accordions, banjos and other instruments the members taught themselves to play) and the lyrics seem more innocent as they range from topics like Tetris and "The Best Summer Ever." While the lyrics may sound like something from an innocent child, there is so much more depth to the writing as simple metaphors become complex analogies for more major life issues and observations.



Their second album "Lanterns" was recorded by Scott Solter (The Mountain Goats, Pattern is Movement, John Vanderslice, Bombadil) and features a more "together" production. The album flows incredibly well and the band members come together to really add depth to the songs.


"Lanterns" will not be officially released until September 15th (as a CD, mp3 download and vinyl package), however they will be playing an album release party at Duke Coffeehouse next Friday (August 28th). The event is free and you can get a copy of the new album early. Opening for Midtown is Mount Moriah and Des Ark (solo).

Old Dogs from the album Lanterns

What a Bore from Oh, Yell!