The Dimes take a trip to New England

The Dimes are an up-and-coming folk-rock group from Portland, Oregon who have just released an EP in preparation for their sophomore effort due out in August of this year. New England is more than just a single and collection of album rejects, however, with three of the four tracks inspired by real events from around the Boston, Massachusetts area and the fourth a beautiful cover of John Lennon's "Watching the Wheels." The four tunes play cohesively as a pleasant thirteen-minute collection of melodic indie folk that should serve as a good introduction to the band if you, like me, have missed out so far.

The formula behind the music is fairly familiar, but the execution on New England is excellent. "The Liberator" rambles along over acoustic guitar and percussion with dashes of accordion and mandolin while "Ballad of Winslow Homer" includes banjo and beautiful vocal harmony. "Clara" you can hear for yourself by downloading it below, a melancholy ballad that should make you eager to hear the remaining tracks from the record. The EP bodes great things for The Dimes' upcoming full-length, which I will be sure to write more about closer to the release date.

Check the boys out on MySpace for more.

Clara (MP3)