For These United States, home is split between Washington D.C. and Lexington, Ky., but the band spends most of its time on the road: 700 shows in the past three years. During that time, the quintet has released four studio albums, the latest of which is called What Lasts. That's a lot of material in a short amount of time for such a young band, but frontman Jesse Elliot's crackly, hard-edged and fast-paced vocals make it work.
What Lasts is the band's twangiest release so far. Many of the tracks feature acoustic guitar and jangling pianos, with some tasteful pedal steel guitar thrown in. "Nobody Can Tell" and "The Great Rivers" are two upbeat numbers that showcase the band's roadhouse, highway-song pastiche: hard-hitting, young-blooded Americana.
With so much music under their belts and thousands of miles on their tour bus, the members of These United States are in the thick of a promising career. Hear the two aforementioned tracks from What Lasts on World Cafe: Next.
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