Western Affairs :: "Iowa"

Iowa isn't a declaration of independence, no statement of rebellion, full of blighted triumphs. Like the rest of the American middle west, it is a profoundly liminal place, neither here nor there, a once proud frontier now tied to heavily subsidized monoculture farming or four decades of disappearing manufacture. Unless an avid reader of Kinsella's Field of Dreams, no American child fantasizes of growing up and moving to Iowa.Western Affairs, a dream pop band not from Iowa, address this sort of grinding sacrifice on their debut single that carries the name of the state in question. "Iowa" is soaring slow-drive pop, initially recalling the spacey keyboards of Milagres' "Glowing Mouth," still aimed at the sky but the part you look at when searching for moral victories. Lyrically, this is a depressing ride full of cold comforts like, "You gave it your best shot" and "You gave up your life to be with me," though it's unclear if the latter is an admonishment or a gratitude. This is the type of interstitial tension that carries a Washington, DC band to address Iowa, the setting for when things both are and are not.

Listen :: Western Affairs - "Iowa"

[via] Indie Music Filter