HPR

Millions of Blackbirds

By Richard Schaan
Contributing Writer

I once met a woman from a working class city in Northern France, and I asked her what she thought of Paris. With an air of prototypical French disgust, she sneered: “It’s not France.”

Since then I’ve often wondered: Can a tourist visiting the United States go to New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco and return home with any clue of what our country is about? More and more, the cosmopolitan cities of the world have more in common with each other than the nation that surrounds them.

So how does this pertain to Amanda Standalone and Pastryshop Girls debut album “Millions of Blackbirds?” Well, travel is not only a theme of the album but also a tradition of American roots music, and to understand Amanda Standalone, you have to look at where she been.

While thousands of young artists flock to the gentrified former capitals of culture like New York, trying to emulate their Bob Dylan, John Coltrane or Patti Smith fantasies, Standalone gravitates to places like Fargo, Pittsburgh, post-Katrina New Orleans and the least glamorous large city of them all, Detroit.

The truth is that the greatness that is New York was built with Pittsburgh steel hauled in on Detroit trucks by workers fed with North Dakota wheat, and without New Orleans jazz and blues, there is no Greenwich Village music scene after WWII. But while places like New York have turned their back on America’s working class, Standalone celebrates it, symbolizes it and sings for it.

As for the album itself, “Millions of Blackbirds,” like so much of today’s music, defies a simple label as it blends elements of blues, folk, country, gospel and others. Sound-wise it’s hard to nail down, but at its heart I would call it a blue’s album because of its paradoxical ability to delve into the harsh side of existence and leave the listener somehow feeling better about life.

The opening title track paints a beautiful portrait without a narrative, but does introduce the theme of birds, which Amanda sees as symbols of rootless freedom, the migratory, rambling musicians of the animal world.

The group returns to birds later in the album with “Old Crows” and “Bird Flew Hard.” The first of which is a touching tribute to Amanda’s deceased friend Dave K, who ran a community center in Detroit and showed her the ropes when she moved there. Only 26, Dave was a young father with an old soul and his memory is best summed up with the line: “And if I had half the heart of him / I’d set this world on fire.”

Birds Flew Hard can be seen as a universal song that the listener can apply to any lesson learned from the reckless joy of taking chances. “The Bird flew hard / and it crashed into the window / It’ll never fly that low again.” While the bird learns to never fly that low again, there is a sense of loss in it; we are taught that great risks are required for great rewards, but as life goes on we find that great risks can kill the body or maim the soul.

That said, the writer had a more specific lesson in mind when she wrote it.

“‘Bird Flew Hard’ is about dating scumbags – not gender specific – and how you have to be decisive about who you keep in your company,” Standalone said.

“Hammer Song” and “Waves of the Ocean” are both excellent as well; in fact, the entire album is one that you can put on and just play, a rare treat for listeners who have become so accustomed to filler tracks and inconsistent albums that they now buy one song at a time. 

The album ends with “Genevieve’s Song,” which was written for Amanda’s niece, who was born in the middle of the 2009 Red River Flood. The track is about spring, actual birth, personal rebirth and the odd sensation of walking around with a smile at a time when everyone else is so stressed out.

Musically the songs vary in style but maintain a cohesiveness that allows the listener to flow from one to the next without noticing. Half the tracks feature Haley Thiel on violin, two have Eric Guttormsen on cello and Amanda’s brother Leif Nygard plays bass on “Old Crows.” All three mix perfectly with the band’s sound and bring a welcome diversity to the mix. 

Produced by The Legionaires bass player Ken Davis, the recording of “Millions of Blackbirds” is flawless and makes one step back in wonder how the level of quality which years ago required an excessively expensive studio can be achieved in a Fargo basement. Amanda, Minda and Abby all marveled at Davis’ hard work, patience and music knowledge, and it shows in the final product.

Also, Minda’s beautiful cover art and Nick Early’s graphic design remind us why we used to buy CDs (and vinyl before that) instead of downloads. And the early copies will all be hand stamped by Minda.

“Millions of Blackbirds” is like a powerful anti-depressant with no adverse side effects. With three soothing voices blending into one calming elixir, buy it and you may find yourself as that smiling face amongst the stressed and the exhausted as we all await another rejuvenating spring. 

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