I decided to go obscure with tonight’s Music Monday post. If you’ve never heard of Chris Staples, then you need to get yourself familiar. I first heard Chris when he was the singer of a Florida indie-band called Twothirtyeight. They were excellent and to be honest, I was sad when they broke up. But, the fruit of the breakup was Chris going out on his own and recording his own music under his name, as well as a “band” name, Discover America.

Chris has this way of making music vulnerable. He leaves nothing hidden or protected. Every song he writes just has this complete nakedness to it that you rarely see from any artist. There’s an indie folk guy in Nashville named Andrew Smith of For All the Drifters/Paper Route fame that does the same. It’s such a powerful way to write and it makes the listener almost feel awkward, but not in a bad way. You feel awkward because you listen and want to say, “look man, do you need a minute?”

Badlands leads off with a total home-run titled, “One Became Two”. One thing you will notice immediately is the appropriate simplicity of the guitar work. It’s simple, not because it’s elementary, but because it’s stripped down and refined. It does a great job of bringing you in and letting you know, this song might get a little deep.

You’ll notice the guitar work on the entire album sets the tone for every song, such as in Lady of Fortune, which starts out with a really catchy, fun lick. Every other instrument fades into the background and the guitar does the heavy lifting, even on a song like Bell Into My Ear, where we hear a toned-down drum kit introduce the song and then slowly fade behind the guitar which reminds me of a wandering piano, a la Vince Guaraldi. Bell Into My Ear is an excellent driving song, so if you give this one a spin, get in your car and let this song whisk you away.

Nearing the end of this record, songs like Thrift Store Jesus Painting & Cold Blue Light guide you home. Cold Blue Light is one of my favorite tracks on this album. Not only does it have that Chris Staples-unique feel, but it also is reminiscent of an old country/folk song that you hear railcar hobos sing–and I mean that in a good way. It just smacks of the old days; I love it.

Look, now that you’ve heard of Chris, go and give his music a listen and let me know what you think! If you enjoy folk or indie, you need this album in your collection.