Frontier Ruckus

Frontier Ruckus shares a record label with a handful of musicians who have made a large imprint in North Carolina during the past decade. From The Avett Brothers and Bombadil to Paleface and the everybodyfields, Dolph Ramseur has built his label Ramseur Records around bands who embody the spirit of the South through beautifully rustic music. Many of Ramseur's bands are from Southern states, but Frontier Ruckus—one of his most interesting—is from Michigan.

This geographical difference is evident in these tunes. Though David Winston Jones, one of the two founding members, plays a banjo, it's just a touchstone here. The surrounding music employs guitars, saw, horns and a simplistic approach at drums to create revolving layers of instruments within the span of each tune. Lead singer Matthew Milia's lyrical approach and singing style reach back to the foundations of folk music's sound, just with a present-day flare. Milia's style parallels that of contemporary indie folk lyricists such as Conor Oberst, John Darnielle, Jeff Mangum and Colin Meloy.

Afternoons spent listening to the radio in the sun, evenings under a starry night spent with a lover, and parlor visits for a drink are all subjects of Frontier Ruckus's songs. Milia's tunes are like small novellas about what it's like to live a simple life in "anytown America," especially in the decaying but romantic Midwest. Over Frontier Ruckus' career, the albums have expanded from a small country lot into a large farm full of pastures, barns and a multitude of crops. Their latest, the poignant and topical Deadmalls and Nightfalls, is the latest evolution, suggesting one of the best aspects of Ramseur Records bands—a fondness for musical maturity. —Jedidiah Gant