By: William Goltz
4/5
It is always a little jarring when bands begin to swear off their old material. Often it comes across as essentially ungrateful, an unsaid flexing of their own apparent maturity: ‘I can’t believe you used to like us for THIS.’ Sometimes, though, it’s simply gratifying to watch a band become what it always seemed destined to become. Oldstar was always going to be a country band. Even as singer-songwriter Zane McLoughlin rode the slowcore revival to success, fuelled by the internet’s enduring reverence for Duster and early Alex G, they always seemed to be itching for the honky-tonk. Each new release brought more country stylings. Where Oldstar’s debut dealt in muted guitars and buried vocals, their 2023 sophomore effort ‘On the Run’ brought horses and twang even where the lofi guitars remained. It was everything a Julia’s War country album should be, legitimately my second most listened to 2023 release (Wednesday’s Rat Saw God could never be moved) but there still seemed some ground left to cover. On ‘Of the Highway’ Zane and company finally get their hands on a pedal-steel: there is no way back from here.
‘Of the Highway’ firmly tips the balance of Oldstar’s evolution onto the country track. Where ‘On the Run’ was lo-fi slowcore with country elements, ‘Highway’ is country music with slowcore inspiration. My parents would probably like this because it means you can hear what is being sung more easily, and that is a plus. Zane is the kind of lyricist you have to admit high-fidelity suits. Cleverly observed but never overwrought, their lyrics balance familiar country themes with a youthful simplicity and longing that keeps them honest. Opener ‘Lowland’ sets the tone pretty unapologetically, as old men ‘cry out for Mama’ and ‘young guns’ die for their girl. As heavily as McLoughlin leans into country kitsch, things never get stale; they’re having too much fun to care, and there is a perfect line around every corner. ‘Wake Me’ feels in many ways like a familiar slow ballad full high school romance and dancing under high beams, but it’s capped by a chorus that could not be more beautifully direct: ‘It’s a great night for stealing gas/ but even that won’t get me out of this/ would you wake me instead.’ Even for an album that is so lyrically focussed on the experience of driving around (the title ‘Of The Highway’ is not taken lightly) every car song makes its case. From, ‘Nail’, a friendship rocker about fixing flats (‘Thank god for Kan Kan!’), to ‘Tarmac’, which feels like an early Vic Chestnutt song about walking on asphalt, the interstate has never been more emotionally complex.
As much as McLoughlin seems to be enjoying the chance to make ‘real’ country rock music, their noisier instincts have not completely gone away. Tracks like ‘Lowland’ and ‘Alabama’ are all the better for being made by someone who’s love of grit and guitar feedback bleeds through. No one really knows how to build dynamics out of a simple guitar line than a recovering slowcore producer. At the same time though, the opportunity to record in a real studio has clearly been put to good use. ‘Plate Numbers’, previously recorded and released on ‘On The Run’, feels like a completely different song in its newest form. Where the original was a sweet closing ballad, sung close to the mic and slow, the ‘Highway’ ‘Plate Numbers’ is all pounding drums and warm guitars, the same lyrics resung with a quiet optimism. Oldstar is finally having fun.
