Merge Records will release Now or Heaven, the sophomore album from Los Angeles’ The Broken West on September 9, 2008.
It was in a backyard of their L.A. neighborhood that Ross Flournoy, Danny Iead, Rob McCorkindale, Brian Whelan and friend/writing partner Adam Vine developed Now or Heaven, The Broken West’s second full-length album. While many bands’ second albums end up being about the road, Now or Heaven originates from home, the longing to get there and all that comes from being there. The perspective generated from the time spent on the road and the distance traveled led to a new, unnameable development.
Drummer Rob McCorkindale and bassist Brian Whelan tempered and extended the rhythms and the tone of longing first explored on I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On. Each song on Now or Heaven contains clever guitars and sublime harmonies, while the drums and bass deliver driving, deliberate rhythms that are more than metronomic; these pulses literally and figuratively power the album. Now or Heaven also marks Brian’s songwriting debut with the dynamic romp, “Got It Bad.”
The Broken West spent a year searching for “a diamond in a bag of ice,” only to find what they were looking for in their own backyard. Ross, Danny, Rob, and Brian may have returned from their travels with a more sinister perspective on the world, but despite everything, each song on Now or Heaven is infused with an immediate burst of catchy familiarity and unquenchable charm.
Track listing:
1. Gwen, Now and Then
2. Auctioneer
3. Elm City
4. Ambuscade
5. Perfect Games
6. House of Lies
7. The Smartest Man Alive
8. Got It Bad
9. Terror for Two
10. Embassy Row