By: David Schultz

Since Phish burst out of Vermont, the state has rightfully gained a reputation as a breeding ground for earthy, rootsy bands. Coming from the closeknit group of friends and musicians that includes Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Blues & Lasers and Jen Crowell, Burlington favorites The Leaves, fronted by the sweet and powerful Aya Inoue, are ready to emerge from the state’s snowy confines onto a larger stage. Fans of Mike Gordon’s Ramble Dove will remember Inoue as one of the collective’s sprightly young singers and anyone who has seen Blues & Lasers will recognize Steve Sharon as one half of the band’s potent double drum assault. On Saving Your Side, their first full-length release, The Leaves live up to the potential they showed on Timid Line, building and expanding on the delicacy of their wonderful 4-song 2008 EP.

A strong, well-rounded album, Saving Your Side finds Sharon, bassist Cory Beard and guitarist Matt Harpster keeping a gratifying slow burn on Inoue’s smoldering songs, earthy sonnets of emotional restlessness and discontent which occupy the space between modernized Grand Ole Opry country, coffeehouse blues and traditional singer-songwriter based folk music. After incorporating Emmylou Harris as a reference point in “Record Player,” Inoue channels her on “Happier I Guess,” a song resounding with a simplicity that manages to convey its ephemeral doubts. Harpster, whose guitar style is not that dissimilar from Scott Tournet’s, punctuates many of the album’s turning points with some fine solos, providing an insistent pulse to “Who I Am” and “Going Home."

Inoue has a strong voice that carries the boldness and resolve of Gillian Welch but trembles with the same fragile twinges that make Jill Sobule such an alluring singer. After an album’s worth of battered hearts and bruised emotions, the album’s finale, “Movin’ On,” which lets Sharon cut loose a bit on the drums, serves as Saving Your Side’s final blow-off. Singing with a feisty growl, you might get the sense that Inoue walks through life plagued by the ghosts of relationships past. Fear not though, in real life the story has a happy end and The Leaves have a great little album on their hands.

You can hear tracks from the new record and check out show dates on their Myspace page.

Labels: The Leaves