{"id":78680,"date":"2019-05-10T16:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-05-10T15:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=78680"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:20:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:20:00","slug":"review-aaron-west-the-roaring-twenties-routine-maintenance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-aaron-west-the-roaring-twenties-routine-maintenance\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties – Routine Maintenance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Following some much-needed downtime after another hectic touring schedule for The Wonder Years<\/a>, frontman Dan Campbell returns to his literary “character study” side project – Aaron West And The Roaring Twenties<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0After a suicide attempt, the death of his father and unborn child, his wife leaving him and homelessness, it makes you wonder what hell Campbell will put West through next.<\/p>\n

West’s story sees him accepting the past with glimpses of hope of a new beginning. On ‘Just Sign The Papers’<\/i>, he desperately urges Diane to help mutually move on “Let\u2019s find an end to the gloom, I\u2019m sorry for every single thing I put you through.”<\/i><\/p>\n

Blaring horns and brass sections heighten ‘Routine Maintenance’s’ <\/em>rich,\u00a0life-affirming choruses exposing West at his most vulnerable, such as with opener ‘Lead Paint & Salt Air’<\/em> and subtly creeps in on ‘Wildflower Honey.’\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Retaining the rustic charm of 00’s indie folk, the project preserves its own unique sound, mostly relying on stripped-back melancholic rhythms, such as with ‘God & The Billboards’\u00a0<\/em>where warm guitar slides and a fiddle section complimenting the comforting touch.<\/span><\/p>\n