This band, Rocketship Park, were featured a while ago on NPR’s Second Stage podcast, a place I often go to check in on good new music. I can’t say enough good things about NPR, especially their musical efforts, which are some of the most noble in the entire profession. I’ve never seen a real company devote so much time to finding bands that are just plain good. From hot new singles, to bands that have never played shows outside their own hometown, if it’s good, it’s on NPR, probably along with some witty, informative commentary.

But I digress; let’s talk about Rocketship Park. I thought I’d heard some of the best string arrangements of the year on Shearwater’s new album Rook, but Rocketship Park have been equally impressive, if in a different way. Too often extra instrumentation is used as a stand-in for mood; need to convey sadness? Hire a cello player. Rocketship Park incorporate the instrumentation into the greater whole quite nicely, at least in this song.

The strings aren’t this song’s only qualities. “Birthday Death Wish,” off Off and Away (which came out earlier this year on Serious Business Records), is a soft melodic sampling of Josh Kaufman’s songwriting. Kaufman, who heads up the project, has a voice that compliments the style well, rising up out of the atmospheric tones of the strings and pedal steel to croon a few melancholy lyrics, like the one that leads the song: “In a little while no voice is recognized / We struggle with ‘Hello’ mingle and say goodbyes.” On top of that, the whole song reverberates with the air of good old country rock, a quality that rarely leads a listener astray.

Mp3 of “Birthday Death Wish” after the jump.

Tunes:

Rocketship Park - “Birthday Death Wish”

Bonus Track: Rockethip Park - “Run Away”

Info:

Off and Away is out now on Serious Business Records.

Websites
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[myspace]

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