Harmonic, effortless folk music

The Milk Carton Kids, a rising, two-time Grammy-nominated duo, step up and deliver on their new full-length album, All the Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn’t Do. The album was produced by three-time Grammy award-winning producer Joe Henry, who has worked with the likes of Madonna, Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt and Jack Elliott.

This new release marks the first time that the California compatriots have entered the studio backed by a full band. Kenneth Pattengale mentioned in an ANTI- Records press release that the band wanted to try a different approach to performing and recording with the new release. “We had been going around the country yet another time to do the duo show…there arose some sort of need for change,” he said. Joey Ryan added, “Musically, we knew we were going to make the record with a bigger sonic palette.” This is the duo’s first release since their 2015 LP, Monterey.

This “bigger sonic palette” consists of the usual fare of drums and bass alongside traditional folk backup singers, but the folk duo had the help of several instruments not usually used in folk music to create the album. “Mourning in America” builds to a very grand and expansive melody aided by piano and other string instruments. It’s a track that wouldn’t hold as strong of a gut-punch without the extra instruments backing up both Ryan and Pattengale. Elsewhere, “All the Things…” ends the album on a soft, but emotionally touching, note with the addition of what sounds like a theremin in the background.

In the timespan between album releases, the duo individually experienced some of the highest highs and lowest lows they each will experience in their lives. Ryan and his wife welcomed a new child, while Pattengale was diagnosed with (and overcame) cancer all while going through the break-up of a seven-year relationship.

The Eagle Rock, California duo has drawn many comparisons to Simon and Garfunkel because of their similar two-man set-up, along with their very similar harmonic vocal melodies. After listening to the opening track of “Just Look at Us Now,” “A Sea of Roses,” and “Blindness,” you can hear the comparison come to life in harmonic tandem.

Speaking of music icons from the ’60s, Pattengale told Billboard that the ballad “I’ve Been Loving You” was written as a Roy Orbison-inspired country song, complete with slide guitar heard faintly in the background. In true Orbison fashion, the song ends with a repeated solemn refrain of “I cry” while an ominous, looming presence is musically created behind it.

“Big Time” is the last upbeat track on the release before a string of somber songs finish off the album. With an opening chord structure similar to “Baby, I Love Your Way” and some very Dylan-esque lyrics (“I’ve lowered my glass to the table / I’ve fashioned this smile from a dream”), “Big Time” is one of the more noteworthy tracks worth a listen.

“One More for the Road” is a ten-minute journey that features ghoulish-sounding harmonies and a breakdown in the middle with an acoustic guitar solo backed-up by a tribal bass drum beat. The charm of this song is that it keeps inviting the listener to stick around for it to build to a climactic end, returning to the haunting yet familiar refrain of “Just one more for the road…” If you’re a fan of the guitar-picking melodies in the breakdown of “One More for the Road,” the punchy track, “Younger Years,” features some of the best acoustic licks on the album. Across 50-plus minutes of music, All the Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn’t Do is a stripped down album that is able to sound majestic and emotionally complex with a relatively limited assortment of instruments.