The Walkabouts

Never a standard rock band, The Walkabouts defied genres as they seamlessly fused rock, post-punk, country and folk to reveal a rich and expansive sound. Channeling Neil Young, Nick Cave and Hank Williams, to name a few influences, the band took their inspiration and churned out original and evocative outsider epics. The Walkabouts self-released their first EP titled 22 Disasters in 1985, and their first LP See Beautiful Rattlesnake Gardens was put out by Seattle's PopLlama Records in 1988. The band was then signed to Sub Pop Records. 1989's classic Rag and Bone was their first album on the label, and although they never reached widespread audiences like other groups on Sub Pop, Walkabouts bandleader Chris Eckman's sophisticated arrangements and songwriting arguably set the template for Sub Pop's folk-rock bands that followed. It’s difficult to pick a favorite, but in the 1990s, they hit their apex and issued a series of indispensable albums: New West Motel (1993), Setting the Woods on Fire (1994) and Devil's Road (1995). These records saw their sound further developing onto a cinematic scale as they hit a remarkable stride. Their last studio album to date, Travels in the Dustland (2011), saw the band continuing the impressive heights that were maintained since their early years with hardly a misstep in between. Great artists who create timeless music are often under the radar and The Walkabouts rank among the best of them. - Andrew Boe, 2019