Alt-folk duo State Park Ranger is Willow Rhinehart and Louden Campbell from Asheville, North Carolina. Writing of 2020 EP Days Gone, we described how the outfit combine folk, rock and blues to weave a sound at once spacious and intense. “Shaking into life with a lazy flow,” we wrote, “there’s a deep-set anger at the heart of the track, one that is allowed out not in melodramatic bursts of noise but rather the flat delivery and spikes of guitar.” The crosshairs of this mood were trained on the exploitative nature of the contemporary system, utilising the classic country trope of tired, luckless figures toiling for no good reason. As the band put it, “I’m a thief for resting, and I’m lazy if I do not desire more than what I need.”
This month sees the return of State Park Ranger with A L L M Y L I F E, a three-song release which continues to develop their established aesthetic. Located in the Appalachian mountains, the band describe their work as “a new authentic mountain sound,” something apparent in the rugged starkness of the tracks. Lead single ‘Holy Fuck’ winds through a valley of moody guitar and shuffling drums, the vocals blowing in with a slow-building intensity. A squall which threatens to crack in the closing minutes, teetering on the very edge of complete breakdown before simmering down and passing on, mystery still intact.