The Big Net are a trio from New York who “drive down the highway somewhere between drone and country, folk and rock,” comprising of Kevin Copeland on guitar & vocals, Andrew Emge on drums and Logan Miley on bass. Their latest release, a new double single with the songs ‘Big Moon’ and ‘Rufus’, was released back in February as part of Saddle Creek’s Document Series, a programme the label set up to showcase bands and artists not on their central roster (including the likes of Wilder Maker, Hand Habits and Hovvdy).
Both tracks were recorded over the same two days as the band’s self-titled debut, and follow the same aesthetic of stripped back folk rock made with minimal overdubs to capture what the label describe as the “freewheeling magnetism that can come alive in a room.” ‘Big Moon’ wraps this up in the languid air of a bittersweet country song, pedal steel rippling across the background like breeze across the prairie. Lyrically, the song takes inspiration from the tradition of lonesome country singers too, the opening line “I felt so upset last night as if nothing no one could console me,” feeling like it could have come from any time in the last eighty years.
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With more weight, ‘Rufus’ injects a little more rock, although the drums are still more of a plod than a gallop. There’s a slight screw of weirdness in the sound too though, a sense that things aren’t quite centred that extends right through to the lyrics. “I go to the movies,” goes the second verse, “and I sit by myself. And I know when my dog died, that he went straight to hell.” The dovetailing of feeling and freakiness across the two tracks is achieved with graceful balance, and mark the band as one to watch. For The Big Net have cast themselves into the waters of classic country and rock, resurfacing with the very best features of the genres.
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Big Moon is out now on Saddle Creek Records and you can get it from The Big Net Bandcamp page. There you can also find Trains, Angels, and Alcohol (Tragic Songs of Life), an EP of “folkloric covers” released last month that includes takes on The Louvin Brothers, Elizabeth Cotten, Gillian Welch and others.
