Coastwest Unrest

Best year on record
2010 marks a peak for local artists and their albums
We'll admit: Drawing up a list of candidates for the top 10 local albums of the year is rarely easy. Once you get past the six or seven truly great selections, you have to then ruminate over records that were good, but not great. And frankly, every top 10 album list, regardless of where the music came from, should exclusively be great, top to bottom.

This year, for the first time, we not only quickly came up with 10 albums we loved, but we had leftovers that were simply less great. Some of those qualified for honorable mention status -- we couldn't pick one among the three rapper HighDro released for the top 10, so he gets a special designation, and we disqualified EPs -- and some of them aren't here at all. Which bolsters the notion that a lot of really fucking good music came out of Las Vegas this year. Here are our 10 best, in alphabetical order.

Coastwest Unrest

Old Weird America

Possibly the most interesting record of the bunch, Old Weird America takes unlikely influences for the Vegas rock scene -- folk, rustic blues, country, waltzes, jigs -- and reforms them into something modern and stimulating. The title could not be more appropriate, as Coastwest Unrest tweaks the typically stubborn Americana genre and gives it something of an indie rock sensibility, with Dylan-esque lyrical commentary to add more dynamic to these 10 songs. Those who pine for something more traditional and those who crave something off the beaten path will both find common ground here. MIKE PREVATT
- Las Vegas CityLife

One door closes, another one opens. As Vegas bade farewell to one of its favorite nonlocal local bands when Dusty Rhodes and the River Band headlined Beauty Bar last Sunday night, fans got to experience a relatively new outfit, folksy Vegas punks Coastwest Unrest. Formed in 2009, the full-sounding trio has managed to stay off the radar of many concert-goers, only recently breaking onto the Downtown music scene after touring around the country.

Singer Noah Dickie; his brother, drummer Josh Dickie; and violinist Alex Barne recorded Coastwest's first album, the 11-song Songs from the Desert, last year, and it caught the attention of College Music Journal, a music events/publishing company. "We just sent it to them, and we ranked really high on their stations," Noah Dickie explains from under his newsboy cap after his band's set. "[Then] we were invited to play some of their festivals for a big chunk of change."

Out-of-towners aren't the only ones willing to shell out bucks for the unassuming trio's rootsy rock. Halfway through the outdoor set, an audience member shuffles forward, picks up a copy of Songs from the onstage stack, and drops a few bills in return. "Thanks," says Barnes, even as he continues drawing a bow across his strings. Perhaps we should thank them, for giving us a hello to go with Dusty's goodbye. - Las Vegas Weekly

Coastwest Unrest – Old Weird America (Reclaim Records)
The ungainly name is the moniker for two brothers, Josh and Noah Dickie, and a superb violinist named Alex Barnes. Unrest, wherever it is (east, west, south, north), is an apt word for this trio’s music though, which takes you on a mad rush through the first biting tracks, whilst all the time hinting at slowing down a touch, maybe, but you can’t count on it. Well, not until track five, where you can catch your breath and just tap your foot, rather than continuing the Dervish dance that they’ve provided so far.

There is certainly a hint of Pogues(ishness) about these three young Americans, who have been labeled by their local paper as folksy Vegas punks, which sums up The Pogues (except for the Vegas part, of course). Add a touch of Nick Cave, and a smidgeon of 16 Horsepower, and there you have it… well, almost.

This Americana paranoia trio (my label, their lyrics) have a full sound that belies the fact that just three guys are doing this, and their range is pretty wide, and you get the feeling that so is their discipline. They may create a sound that borders on mayhem at times, but the tunes are strong, and so is the playing; neither do the vocals ever waver.

This is a pure romper stomper of an album, where the band take off their coats, let down their hair, and give it their all. And their all is an awful, awful lot, which you should share just as soon as you can.
www.myspace.com/coastwestunrest
Kev A. - Leicester Bangs UK

Coastwest Unrest
Old Weird America (Reclaim Records)
The term "old weird America" was coined by renowned music writer Greil Marcus, and used to rename Invisible Republic, his book on Bob Dylan/The Band's 1967 Basement Tapes recordings. The term describes the amalgamation of 1920s/1930s folk, blues and country music embodied on Harry Smith's iconic Anthology of American Folk Music, which is thought to heavily influence Dylan during the Basement Tapes era. It's a curious source of inspiration for a band out of Las Vegas, a place not exactly known for embracing roots music. But the city's musical range has been expanding quicker than the city itself -- which is saying something -- and Coastwest Unrest is evidence of that adventurousness.

Indeed, folk, blues and country music inform the entirety of the trio's interpretative Old Weird America, with flashes of Irish jigs, waltzes and punk cropping up here and there. Its character mostly comes from heavy use of the violin, acoustic guitars and harmonica, not to mention drummer Josh Dickie's hiccuping rhythms, which are as unconventional as singer Noah Dickie's cadences. Actually, you could argue this is all quite traditional -- way back traditional -- and they give you something to soak up in absence of whatever modern pop elements you're normally expecting.

But even those old weird (but tweaked) touchstones can fall background to Noah's often subtly delivered lyrics, which update the sort of socio-cultural criticism ("Ian MacKaye would tell you why/your armies fell" in "The Underground") and Biblical imagery ("When you're down in the mouth/remember Jonah made it out all right" in "Down in the Mouth") Dylan has used all his career. How refreshing it is to get lost in the words of a local songwriter; Noah's lyrical ambition puts him on par with Wyatt McKenzie.

"Your words are loud but your ideas are quiet" from the somewhat ironic "Rebel Song" could be about modern politics. But if you reversed the sentiment and switched the adjectives, the thought could describe Noah and his very interesting band, who have produced a remarkable debut. MIKE PREVATT
- Las Vegas CityLife

COASTWEST UNREST / Old Weird America CD / Reclaim Records / 2010

It’s nice to hear the sound of the moment mixed up and messed around with a bit. This CD has some pretty typical Roots/Americana/Indie sounds that are so popular right now, but distinctively constructed with some unlikely rhythms and influences from prog-rock to jazz. It makes for a mix that works to keep the music here from sounding like a carbon-copy of the acoustic guitar/fiddle stuff that dominates rock-oriented releases these days.

SOUNDS LIKE:
IRON AND WINE, MEKONS, BOB DYLAN

SUGGESTED TRACKS:
2 “I’m A Ghost Now” (almost like a hoedown SIGUR ROS at points)
4 “The Lonesome Tale Of Bacchus Lee” (jazz/swing/folk)
10 “The Underground” (slow-boiling epic)
- Pirate Cat Radio San Francisco

The trio Coastwest Unrest formed in 2009 in Las Vegas. In that time they’ve released two albums, their debut effort Songs From the Desert and their sophomore follow-up Old Weird America.
Old Weird America is essential Coastwest Unrest; it is full of instantly catchy folk-rock tunes that utilize all three members of the band, Alex Barnes and brothers Josh and Noah Dickie.
Tracks like “Down in the Mouth” showcase the bands signature sound as acoustic guitars play catchy rhythms, harmonica and drums add to the overall ambience, and the violin played by Barnes always seems to do a lot without ever doing too much.
Old Weird America came about from CU’s travels across the country and their inspirations during specific moments of touring. You can feel the haunting reach of “Weird America” in every song on the album. Old Weird America is the wonderfully elusive second effort that surpasses the original. - WSBU 88.3

An ode to Sin City......

I’ve been enjoying a full-length by the Las Vegas act, COASTWEST UNREST since I got tipped off by our partners at NEON REVERB about it early in the week. The album is called, “Old Weird America” (Reclaim Records) and it fluctuates from Americana punk rock at one moment to BECK ‘Mutations/Sea Change‘ era to Blitzen Trapper. The album has 2-3 heads but it all somehow fits together in theme and feels like the Vegas answer to Tom Waits, when he told tales of dirty Hollywood. This track, “Lady Luck Death Dance“, is an ode to Sin City, with less about the shiny casino and more about the “grand allusion on my street“. Frontman Noah Dickie has a voice you won’t forget, made just for ‘True Blood’ or would’ve fit nicely on HBO’s ‘Carnivale” when it was on air.

“I met this girl at a party. she wanted me to tell her a story. she said you gotta strange voice, will you sing it to me. tell me all about your city, Las Vegas” – from “Lady Luck Death Dance“

SONG OF THE DAY: Coastwest Unrest “Lady Luck Death Dance“ - Future Sounds

High-caliber acoustic-folk-punk-rock from this Las Vegas trio who own their own record label. Very DIY, but not in a contrived sort of way. Fans of Tom Waits, The Minutemen, and the Avett Brothers will probably dig this, but couldn't simply liken it to one of those groups. "Our Punk Rock" and "Fontana Bounce" are a couple of standouts, but the whole record is mighty fine, mighty fine. - WLUR FM