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“Americana” is an odd term, describing a genre of music with no easily identified relationship to large swaths of the country that lends it its name. Cool-breeze vocals and rocking-chair tempos don’t speak to the experience of urban life, after all. But specificity of tone hasn’t stopped the disciples of Will Oldham from quietly (and I mean quietly) taking over an ever-increasing percentage of indie rock market share. Portland’s Horse Feathers are prettier than most, but definitely of a kind. Throughout their second LP (and first for Kill Rock Stars), House With No Home, Justin Ringle’s voice is strong and clear, yet hushed, as if singing out might wake a tired uncle in the next room. It seems almost unfair that he must perpetually pipe down; a muted trumpet yearning to blare free. The record does contain admirable intricacies of design, mostly due to fine string arrangements from brother-and-sister bandmates Heather and Peter Broderick. But it only takes so many chances and never demands its listener’s rapt attention. We call that “background music,” in the city and the country both.
