Music City Mayhem Round 12: Bear Cub vs Maggie Eckford

The Contenders

In the left: "aggressive folk" rockers and Pittsburgh natives Bear Cub. Indeed, these guys are too aggressive to be filed under simple, unhyphenated "folk," but are also too melodic for me to classify them as "hardcore indie rockers" (no disrespect to Black Vinyl Magazine, though). Personally, I see more indie-pop than anything else in Bear Cub's "I've Been Around," a song with a bouncy, infectious sheen that belies an underlying tale of heartbreak. Actually, it appears that Bear Cub's entire self-titled debut LP was inspired by a single mega-heartbreak. According the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Jesse Hall [lead singer] left the city he loves and a promising pop-punk band to follow a girl to Austin. All he got was a broken heart, a long trip back and the seed for one of the best albums to come out of Pittsburgh this year." Personally, I see a lot of Wilco in these guys, a little bit of Spoon, and also a lot of the Midwestern indie/jangle pop craze from a few years back à la The Hush Sound and This is Me Smiling. The fact that Bear Cub's sonic influences seem to be localized in either Chicago or Austin is probably more than coincidence, too; prior to his ill-fated journey to Austin that inspired Bear Cub's first album, Hall played in a pop-punk band called The Compusure that, according again to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was "on track with a Chicago record producer to try to break nationally." Regardless of what you do recognize in Bear Cub's sound, though, it's not hard to recognize the talent and strength of Hall's songwriting. Perhaps even more importantly, there's an intangible something sparking underneath the playing that lets you know that these guys just enjoy the hell out of playing their music, and that's something that seems to be getting rarer and rarer. 

In the right: deceptively-rocking singer-songwriter Maggie Eckford. I say deceptively because based solely on my unwarranted and appearance-based prejudices, I expected either a)straightforward female-country or b)straightforward female-pop. Maggie's song selection, "Come and Go," is a fuzzy, garage-rock tinged tune that really reminds me more of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's or Nashville's own The Ettes than anything else. The fact that her voice retains a Regina Spektor-esque fragile sensibility is actually refreshing, though, since most of the other female singers in the rock camp seem to having a "let's see who can overload the mic and make the gain clip fastest" contest. For her video, however, Maggie slots in an EPK promotional segment that gives quite a different impression. The video starts with a performance of "Come and Go," but from there delves into pretty straightforward singer-songwriter territory with shots of Maggie picking out new clothes, showcasing her interest in fashion, and explaining the her album title. The other songs showcased in the video are mellower and more typical singer-songwriter fare, though her band does showcase some unexpected synth fare at one point. I can't decide exactly what to compare her to; at points, I'd name the aforementioned garage-rock acts, but at other points, I'd say Erin McCarley with a quieter, more ornamental voice.

The Verdict

Again, a tough call. I genuinely enjoy Bear Cub and their familiar brand of indie-folk/pop, but Maggie Eckford subverted my initial expectations in a great way. After all is said and done, though, I think I'm going to have to go with Bear Cub. Chalk it up to my disinterest in fashion, but I just prefer the vibe they have going on. Their tunes overflow with authenticity and vulnerability, and to me, they sound like they make music that doesn't try too hard to be marketable, different, or experimental, but rather just tries to be music that they like to play. Go vote for them here.