Record Review // Yes Selma / Pony Payroll Bones "God Blind / Baby, I Ain't Russian" (Sara Laughs)

$8 //
Edition of 200 //
https://saralaughs.bandcamp.com/album/god-blind-baby-i-aint-russian //

"On My Way To God" begins this record and it has these bells shaking, like the kind you can wear on your arms if you're a street performer, a flute perhaps, some broken down piano keys and eventually the drums come drumming.   It feels like an old Disney cartoon soundtrack- like "Snow White"- only breaking down, like you're watching it in a theater where they have the audio and film separate and the record is warped or the player isn't quite up to speed.   The drumming really picks up with the breaking down symphony and the only lyrics during this song are "I'm on my way to God".

"Blind" has a more upbeat, lighter feel musically with the strums of an acoustic guitar such as a folk artist.   The lyrics, however, are not as light and upbeat as there are mentions of suicide and misery.   I do grow tired of the idea that everything needs a label and every genre of music needs to be broken down and placed into this little box where we give it a tag on Bandcamp, but I really do think that idea of pleasant sounding music with dark and gloomy lyrics needs a name because I enjoy it so much.

This record is my first time hearing Pony Payroll Bones and the song "Baby, I Ain't Russian" begins with this wandering country type of guitar.    The lyrics come right in singing the title and it sounds like dying.   There is a more country folk sound on this song and it just breaks down with that old rusty guitar sound like Johnny Cash.   This is such a powerful song, as it clanks through, and you can just experience it more than you hear it and that will tell you why it has a side all to itself. 

Two songs from Yes Selma should have you buying this record because you know how much I love this music by now.   The song by Pony Payroll Bones on the flip side is a bonus not only because it serves as an introduction (for me at least) to a new artist but because it is such a great song and just... It feels like a mini-album more than a song in a traditional sense and that should just have you fully immersed into this entire record.