Review by David Feltman
For a small independent recording, Aaron Wilhoft’s debut EP shows an impressive amount of production polish. The recordings are clean, clear and remarkably well layered. It’s not the kind of quality you’d typically expect from a DIY EP.
Everything Together tackles love, war and growing up in five quick songs. Wilhoft’s smooth, rapid-fire vocals are emphasized by steady, mid-tempo rhythms. The result is pure Americana with flashes of John Fogerty, Zac Brown, Steve Earle and Uncle Tupelo. It’s good stuff.
If there’s any problem, perhaps it’s that there’s too much polish. Any of the rough, rural, roots sound that you might expect from the influences listed above have been carefully rounded and smoothed. The Americana is there, but it gets filtered through a college rock sensibility. The flashes of guys like Fogerty and Earle come by way of, say, Ben Folds and Dave Matthews. This makes the album feel a little too neat and safe. For a debut EP, Everything Together shows a lot of promise and Aaron Wilhoft is an artist to watch. But hopefully he’ll let a little dirt in for the LP.
You can find out more about Aaron Wilhoft on Facebook and on his official website. You can the EP for sell on iTunes and CDBaby.
