| On the Northline | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 16, 2024 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock, Indie pop | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Sitcom Universe, Loose Music (Europe) | |||
| Frontier Ruckus chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Uncut |   [1] |
| Daily Express |   [2] |
| Americana UK | [3] |
On the Northline is the sixth full-length studio album by Frontier Ruckus. It was the band's first major output since 2017, ending a seven-year recording hiatus. [4]
Recorded in Ypsilanti, Michigan to the TASCAM 388 of engineer Ben Collins, the record took on more of the homespun, analog production approach of lead singer Matthew Milia's solo albums Alone at St. Hugo and Keego Harbor. In this regard, it was also heralded as a return to the ungarnished and emotionally raw ethos of the band's earlier work. [5] Appearing on the podcast of Old 97's lead singer Rhett Miller, Milia talked about the change in direction following their "Nashville" record, 2017's Enter the Kingdom:
“This record is way more back to basics—we kind of see it as a sequel to our first album from 2008, The Orion Songbook. Back when we had no idea what the hell we were doing, when there’s bleed on all the instruments but there’s something so charming in the naiveté.” [6]
Thematically, the album continues songwriter Matthew Milia's perennial obsession with his native environment of Metro Detroit. Speaking to REVUE, Milia explained:
“Metro Detroit is a very amorphously large and complex region of all these colliding communities and socioeconomic identities, and I’ve always been endlessly fascinated with how it all comes together. So I just kind of endlessly investigate that in my songs.” [7]
But as the first Frontier Ruckus album since Milia's getting married and becoming a father, On the Northline also evoked a deeper domestic introspection than ever. Speaking on this life change, he continued:
“I had met the love of my life and realized I didn’t want a tour or 200 dates a year to make a living…This isn’t revolutionary, to nestle oneself into domestic life. But for me, it was very different from the way I spent my 20s, which was sleeping on floors and touring in a van with my best friends." [7]
Instrumentally, banjo player David Jones pursued increasingly intricate melodic lines in orchestrated counterpoint to multi-instrumentalist Zachary Nichols' complex arrangements on trumpet, melodica, and musical saw—prompting Americana UK to comment: "Urban decay set to Banjos and 60s psych mean a welcome return for an always good band." [8]
Speaking to The Oakland Press, Milia said the band "limited ourselves to acoustic instruments" in an effort to keep things simple and to serve the song at all costs, continuing: "You’re free to just let the songs sing. There’s a real intimacy to serving the song and letting that be the predominant message...I think people are attracted to that kind of unadulterated rawness." [9]
The album received a warm critical reception, especially in the United Kingdom where the band embarked on a release tour supporting The Handsome Family. A Metro Times cover story commented on the universal appeal of Milia's lyricism, despite their pertaining hyper-specifically to Michigan places and themes:
“Based on the positive reactions to Northline’s three singles, it’s also clear that Frontier Ruckus’ dedicated fan base, even if they aren’t Michiganders, are still hungry for these mitten-state ruminations.” [10]
KLOF Magazine commented on the record's balance of emotions by saying: "If adolescent melancholy and nostalgic yearning are both constants in the Frontier Ruckus musical firmament, then the redemptive power of love is still the star that shines brightest – especially when life can appear at its bleakest. Highly recommended." [11]
Uncut magazine described the album as a "tremendous sixth from consistently inventive Michigan trio... further demonstrations of something special and still under-appreciated." [12]
All songs written by Matthew Milia, except "Wherefore" by Zachary Nichols
Frontier Ruckus
Guest musicians
Production
Railroad Earth is a bluegrass-influenced Americana band formed in Stillwater, New Jersey in 2001. The band's music combines elements of progressive bluegrass, folk, rock, country, jazz, Celtic and other Americana influences. Recognized as "carrying on the tradition of improvisational, genre-spanning music laid forth by the Grateful Dead," Railroad Earth is known for lyrical songwriting and extensive live improvisation. The band takes its name from the Jack Kerouac prose poem "October in the Railroad Earth". The band also has a song of the same name.
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Songdog is a Welsh folk noir duo. As of May 2021, current members are Lyndon Morgans and Karl Woodward.
Frontier Ruckus is an American band from Michigan. The project is centered on the lyrically intensive songs of Matthew Milia, and was formed by Milia and banjo player David Winston Jones while growing up in Metro Detroit. In 2008, the band released its debut full-length record, The Orion Songbook. Though formed in a folk tradition, Frontier Ruckus has shown an eclecticism across their catalog, incorporating aspects of baroque and jangle pop, alt-country, bluegrass, and lo-fi.
Samantha Crain is a Choctaw Nation songwriter, musician, producer, and singer, signed with Ramseur Records and Real Kind Records and Full Time Hobby Records (UK/Europe).
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The Orion Songbook is the debut album by Frontier Ruckus, released on November 6, 2008.
Eternity of Dimming is the third full-length studio album by Frontier Ruckus. A double album of 20 songs, the record is nearly an hour and a half in duration. The album's lyrical text is also unusually prolific, containing approximately 5,600 words. Despite the dense and hardly immediate nature of the record, Eternity of Dimming received mostly favorable reviews—eliciting reactions of both hyperbolic praise and occasional vexation. Thematically, the record details childhood and adolescent memory within the suburban landscape of Metro Detroit.
Deadmalls and Nightfalls is the second full-length studio album by Frontier Ruckus, released on July 20, 2010 by Ramseur Records.
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Way Upstate and the Crippled Summer, pt. 2 is an EP by Frontier Ruckus, released in 2011 between the releases of Deadmalls & Nightfalls and Eternity of Dimming. It is only physically available on the double-vinyl edition of the former. The EP is the release by Frontier Ruckus most in the category of alternative country.
Sitcom Afterlife is the fourth full-length studio album by Frontier Ruckus. Strongly embracing elements of classic power pop, the record marked a stylistic shift for the band while still retaining a folk rock undercurrent. The album marked the return of harmony vocalist Anna Burch, and indefinite departure of founding drummer Ryan Etzcorn. Sitcom Afterlife is considered to be the result of a romantic breakup experienced by songwriter Matthew Milia, to which AllMusic commented: "[Milia's] not having much luck with relationships, which may be bad news for him but has certainly given him plenty of inspiration."
Matthew Milia is an American songwriter, musician, poet, and visual artist. He is best known as the leader of the band Frontier Ruckus.
Enter the Kingdom is the fifth full-length studio album by Frontier Ruckus. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with former Wilco and Uncle Tupelo drummer Ken Coomer, it marked the first Frontier Ruckus album produced outside of the band's home state of Michigan. Rolling Stone announced the album in late 2016 and premiered a music video for the debut single "27 Dollars."
Bishop Gunn was a 4-piece blues Americana rock and roll country band from Natchez, Mississippi. It consisted of Travis McCready (vocals/guitar/harmonica/piano), Ben Lewis, Burne Sharpe and Drew Smithers. Bishop Gunn was influenced by artists such as Wilson Pickett, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Soundgarden. The band was named after a tombstone they saw in Natchez, that was over the resting place of the sixth Bishop of Natchez, John Edward Gunn. The band suspended activity February 20, 2020.
Alone at St. Hugo is the debut solo studio album by Matthew Milia. It was released on May 3, 2019. Recorded on a Tascam 388 reel-to-reel tape recorder, the entire album was performed by Milia and engineer Ben Collins. In an interview with Metro Times, Milia described the set of highly melodic power pop songs that constitute the album as a result of shirking music industry expectations and remaining prolific as a writer for purer reasons, saying, "It's the writing part that I still wake up every day and want to do."
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Keego Harbor is the second solo studio album by Matthew Milia, named after the Michigan town near where Milia grew up. Recorded in a similar fashion to Milia's debut solo album Alone at St. Hugo, it was once again produced in the Ypsilanti home studio of Ben Collins to a Tascam 388 reel-to-reel tape recorder. The album cover features Milia and his wife, Lauren, standing in front of Sylvan Lake—with Keego Harbor and Waterford in the background.
