Say what? Another Medicine Hat release? You bet. The music scene’s most prolific recording artists are at it again with this excellent five-song release.

This time the new EP sounds a lot more like what the live shows have become, with the acoustic duo of Robert Ramirez on vocals and guitar and Michelle Votrian on vocals and guitar as well.

Say what? Another Medicine Hat release? You bet. The music scene’s most prolific recording artists are at it again with this excellent five-song release.

This time the new EP sounds a lot more like what the live shows have become, with the acoustic duo of Robert Ramirez on vocals and guitar and Michelle Votrian on vocals and guitar as well.

Opening track, “At Night You Break My Heart,” sounds like a vintage Gram Parsons song with its twangy singalong chorus. “Dig” finds the duo trying new ground in an almost meditative, psychedelic mood. “Hanging Pictures” has the solid rock groove that would easily translate to Medicine Hat’s occasional full-band shows. “Dirty Waltz” could easily be a John Prine or Townes Van Zandt track — which is as good as the genre can get. The EP closes with “Comes Around,” a stoner desert ballad that is classic Medicine Hat.

The EP proves that not only is Medicine Hat one of the most prolific recording bands in town, it is now also one of the best.

~ Chris Jay - VC Reporter

Leaving Kind of Sound is only a three-song EP, but it serves the purpose of letting the listener know exactly what the band is all about and that is roots rock and alternative country. The opener, “In the Morning” has a psychedelic country vibe reminiscent of Cracker and The Cowboy Junkies and it sets the tone of things to come. “The Great Escape,

Leaving Kind of Sound is only a three-song EP, but it serves the purpose of letting the listener know exactly what the band is all about and that is roots rock and alternative country. The opener, “In the Morning” has a psychedelic country vibe reminiscent of Cracker and The Cowboy Junkies and it sets the tone of things to come. “The Great Escape,” drenched in harmonies and mandolin, would be the perfect track for a driving-into-the-sunset movie montage. Plus you can’t help but love a song when the lyrics are a clever reference to a classic Steve McQueen film. The “king of cool” movie star and former Santa Paula resident is even name checked. The closer, which is also the title track, sounds like vintage Tom Petty, a four-on-the-floor rock groove that would go well with a domestic beer in a smoke-filled bar in middle-America. Leaving Kind of Sound dropped last year, but the band is putting the finishing touches on a new full-length album which for fans of Americana music should be the most anticipated release of the year.

— Chris Jay