Critic’s Choice

There’s a hint of Herman Melville in the music of Telegraph Canyon, a seven-strong collective from Fort Worth, Texas. Songwriter Chris Johnson has a penchant for penning soundtracks for wide-angle shots of skimming vessels, incorporating accordion and violin into his seasick, acoustic-guitar-based compositions. Picture a band of sailors congregating for a post-typhoon jam session, and you’ll begin to get a sense of Telegraph Canyon’s world-weary indie folk. Toss in some disenfranchised politics and romantic couplets, and you’re halfway to bear-hugging the group’s debut, All the Good News, which strikes a balance between No Depression alt-country and the folkways of Alan Lomax.

Fri., Aug. 31