Eric David Rose - Crying for the River and for Us (2020) Hi-Res

"Crying For the River and For Us" by Eric Rose and Chris King (with Three Fried Men) is a thinking-person's throwback indie rock record. It has roots in a group of 30-year-old college friendships from Washington University in St. Louis, 19th century American frontier journals, and ancient Mesopotamian cylinder seals.

These eight songs were primarily written by Eric Rose, now based in San Francisco, scoring the poetry of Chris King, who is back in St. Louis where their songwriting partnership and these musical friendships began. Rose's songwriting evokes perennial melodic indie rock -- Uncle Tupelo, Pavement, Spoon, -- and also alludes back to The Beatles, "Revolver," for a musical touchstone. His musical and tonal palettes are varied. He turns out a lush, mid-tempo ballad in waltz time, stripped-down country-rock, and even a burst of pop funk to end the musical journey.