Elway Cracks A Case For Leavetaking

Elway, an aging emo-leaning punk rock band from Fort Collins, Colorado, that captured headlines two years ago after retired Broncos quarterback John Elway asked them to change their name, has a brand new sophomore album out. Maybe the newest release will put the old publicity to rest. The band needs a break from it.

Sure, the story brought the band attention but it has also buried something more important. The band is better than good, which was the reason they had changed their name from 10-4 Eleanor in 2011. As more people discovered their music, they felt the old name was a hold back.

Leavetaking widens the distance away from 10-4 Eleanor and their Fort Collins roots. 

Back when the band was releasing 10-4 Eleanor albums like ...Too Bad, the bad kept everything simple. While some punk rock bands found causes, they always saw a cause to party. Most of their music was about that too. Ask anyone who saw them around 2010. 10-4 Eleanor was a good time.

Leavetaking, on the other hand, is a more mature sound for the former punk party clowns. They still know how to have a good time, but you can tell they have become more concerned with their craft.

Craft might even be the right word given that label says they produced the album with the help of Matt Allison (The Lawrence Arms) at Atlas Studio in Chicago and approximately 510 cans of Busch Light. How long it took to finish it off is anybody's guess. The beer, not the album. It's clear the album took as long as it needed.

It's especially clear in the lyrics, perhaps best punctuated by listening to Tim Browne play an acoustic session for KPSU. The performance debuted back in 2011, so expect the studio version to have evolved significantly. (There isn't much tame about Browne as implied here.) He looks different too.


Salton Sea is a song about regret and coming to terms with it. While easily dismissed as one of the band's growing list of sad sack songs, Browne retains some hopeful notes that this too shall pass. He wants to get on with it. On the studio version, the entire song plays tighter at under two minutes.

Tightness is something that can be heard in other areas as well. Brian Van Proyen (guitar), Joe Henderer (bass), and Garrett Carr (drums) are all playing better than ever. They aren't the band that sort of stumbled together to hammer out break-up inspired punk songs in Browne's basement — even if a couple of songs might convince you otherwise.

Montreal, which Browne presents on the album as a stripped acoustic, is about remembering a break up and wanting an apology. The track makes for a solid break from the aggressive and soaring melodies that typify Elway. Their brand of punk rock has mellowed and gotten significantly more complex. At times, it could easily fit into alternative more than punk.

The songwriting stands out above the clutter on Leavetaking.

It cuts at how Browne approaches composition. He has always felt more comfortable writing music that can have an emotional impact on people whether they agree with him or not. For those who do agree, they will find it impossibly easy to relate to him as a songwriter. There is some common ground.

Aside from the shaky vocal opening of The Great Divorce, anyone who has had their faith tested can quickly pick up on Browne's chronic angst about it. He does a fine job balancing his atheistic view and the girl he sings about. Better standouts include One Flew West; Someday, Sea Wolf; Christopher; and There Is A Line.

Prophetstown gets caught up in too much familiarity, but it has a solid sing-along chorus. Ariel is also worth checking out. It's not punk, but it illustrates how easy it is for Browne to write bust-up songs. It's both snarky and bitter, with the only pang off hope being that he won't remember her over time.

Leavetaking By Elway Rips 6.5 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale. 

There isn't any new ground being broken on Leavetaking, but Elway has found the right sound to mature with for another decade or so. That's better than most bands. Other than that, expect some flack over the fact that they spend more time in Chicago than Colorado or that they're overrated. I dunno. They just seem like talented, approachable guys to me that can lay down decent tracks.

You can pick up Leavetaking by Elway on Amazon. Barnes & Noble has the vinyl LP listed. You can also download the album from iTunes. The band has a sporadic schedule in July. Check out their tour schedule listed on Facebook.

Nothington Is On Borrowed Time

After touring around together with Tsunami Bomb until it broke up in 2006, Jay Northington and Gabe Lindeman started kicking around ideas about what to do next. Both of them were eager to do something for different reasons — Northington had been the newest member and Lindeman one of the longest standing.

So Northington, irritated with his musical situation and the industry, wrote a few songs and asked Lindeman to play with him in an old woodshop in Petaluma, Calif. The practice times alone were enough to entice them back to their punk rock roots. They scraped together enough money to put out a few demos.

The combination of soulful songwriting and punk-infused arrangements caught on well enough to attract the interest of two more musicians. Longtime friends Chris Matalich and Mike Hicks were the next to sign on, rounding out a four-member band for BYO Records in 2007.

Borrowed Time straddles more alternative rock than punk. 

Like their previous albums, Borrowed Time is recorded with Scott Llamas at PopSmear Records in San Francisco. But this time around, Nothington sticks with Red Scare Industries, the label that recently released their folksy 6-track acoustic outlaw country punk EP, More Than Obvious, in July.

Borrowed Time is nothing like More Than Obvious. It's best described as an 11-track album that fall somewhere in between their first releases with an addictive new style. So what's different?

The album from is more collaborative, has more melody, and includes more mic time with Northington. Even Matalich sounds gruffer on the new album, apparently to create a better balance with his bandmate. You can catch some of it about 15 minutes into this full set clip captured in Bakersfield, Calif.



While the vocals are undercut in the video compared to the audio-only clip of Don't Have To Wait, it makes for a fine introduction. It shows that Nothington knows how to play a small crowd as well as the bigger venues they typically hit while touring Europe.

It's not surprising. Nothington might list their home in Northern California, but they've said on more than one occasion that their real home is wherever they happen to tour. It has to be. Like many bands that pick music as a full-time profession today, touring helps them keep it together financially. Home is the road.

Borrowed Time may be their best release to date. 

There are no bad tracks on Borrowed Time. Almost every song is just as strong as the next, with Captive Audience, Where I Can Be Found, and Far To Go retaining more near punk aggression.

But then, from End Of The Day on, the album takes a decidedly alternative rock turn. It's also the first song on which Northington makes a noticeable move to the foreground for effect. The combination is welcomed in every occasion.

On tracks like The Escapist, Northington even takes on lead vocals with confidence, much more so than he does on Ordinary Lives or any other previous song. St. Andrews Hall, Don't Have To Wait, and personal favorite Hopelessness are all solid too, making Borrowed Time the band's most convincing progression.

Nothington's Borrowed Time Clocks 8.9 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

While several songs drift away from punk, the album is one step further than a simple progression. There is a fuller, folkier underbelly in almost every composition. The songs might not be more deliberate, but it is clear everyone contributed to make each track better.

Borrowed Time by Nothington is currently available on iTunes. You can also download the album from Amazon. The full physical release, including a vinyl edition, is slated for next week, September 13.