Greg Vanderpool

Veering left of Americana, the solo debut from Milton Mapes/Monahans principal Greg Vanderpool cashes in gradual West Texas soundscapes for a more precise, inwardly focused take on desolation. Eight short, sharp pleas garner thematic unity under the umbrella of loss. "End of the Fight" opens on a hard-picked acoustic guitar that gives wiry, urgent form to Vanderpool's elegiac sentiment. Faraway vocals arrive couched in echo and reverb, adding to the transitory vibe. The finished product may owe more to anti-folk than alt.country. "Truth or Consequences" bears strong resemblance to the raw bedroom-pop confessionals that often dressed up obscure mid-Nineties indie films, while "Tightrope (Transmission Farewell)" sounds like a lost Springsteen demo. "The Less It Can Be Measured" offers a hypnotically repetitive meditation that builds tension with each droning cycle before "Unrest" crashes into stark, piano-driven oblivion. The sum of these disparate tangents is the sonic equivalent of an unfinished home, but that's likely the point. - Austin Chronicle

Greg Vanderpool has been a fixture of the Austin music scene for close to two decades now, both as a solo artist and with his bands Milton Mapes and Monahans. In fact, Milton Mapes are reuniting after ten years with a show on Saturday, July 30 at the Continental Club, and you can also catch Greg solo when he opens for My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel on September 21 at the Cactus Cafe... - KUTX

Richly rooted in American rock traditionalism but also lurching noisily forward into something far more intriguing... - Magnet

Vanderpool evokes a landscape of the heart that is stark, desolate and uncommonly beautiful... - Paste