A Gilded Age

A Gilded Age signals the dawning of a new era for Norfolk. Recorded at the legendary Type Foundry Studio, Selzer (who produced and engineered the record himself) has long demonstrated the ability to craft exquisitely defined, sonically arresting, folk-tinted songs, but with A Gilded Age he leads Norfolk and Western to flex their songwriting and arranging muscle with dramatic, singular results.

Never before has the band so defied the usual descriptors, and comparisons. The songs cascade dynamically and unrelentingly--elevating the long-form EP format to new heights-- beginning with the trademark Victrola and string swell opening of Porch Destruction to the positively invigorating (not a word usually associated with the band's recorded work) overdriven guitar and banjo attack of the title track. Each song serves the whole, adding layers of depth, drama, and subtlety to an undeniable tapestry of music. The songs are immanently accessible, borrowing from pop motifs more than past collections with the well honed rhythm section of Blumberg and bassist hit man Dave Depper (Blanket Music, The Village Green), but they also challenge the listener with terrific bursts of texture from Selzer's thick guitar, Amanda Lawrence's romantic viola, Cory Gray's (Desert City Soundtrack, Graves) hellish, equestrian trumpet squalls, and Tony Moreno's multi-instrumental savvy. Moreover, Selzer is in rare form as a lyricist, exercising restraint and letting the arrangements elucidate the moral dilemmas of his taught song narratives.

Clyde & New Orleans may be the centerpiece of Selzer's provocative juxtapositions, calling on current events (Hurricane Katrina, The Edgar Ray Killen trial) to forge a work of short fiction set in the sixties, riffing on the human drama unfolding in contemporary America. The "wrath of God" is captured in an instrumental bridge, sending the snappy waltz time off the rails in an unholy, sinister, gut wrenching cacophony. This dramatic effect--interplay of light and dark, loud and soft--is expertly realized by Norfolk and Western throughout duration of the LP.

- Chad Crouch, HUSH Records

The LP release of "A Gilded Age" features 3 tracks not to be found on its digital companion. 2 covers, Seven Seas by Echo & The Bunnymen and Marie by Towns Van Sandt plus a remake of Border, Oklahoma, originally off the "Centralia" record, hand picked by the JBR staff.