March 23, 2004 - Our Endless Numbered Days

It's a triple release day! Just six months since the EP "The Sea & The Rhythm" and a year and a half since his debut "The Creek Drank The Cradle", Iron & Wine released their second album "Our Endless Numbered Days" on March 23, 2004. While both previous releases were recorded by just Sam Beam, this is the first album where Beam has some help and a full band with him! Joining Beam is Brian Deck (drums, percussion, keyboards), EJ Holowicki (bass) and Patrick McKinney (electric guitar). Obviously going from just Sam and his guitar to a whole band is going to give Iron & Wine a different feel; let's see what a full line-up can do!

The album begins with "On Your Wings" and Beam plays a soft acoustic riff to keep the pace then sings a soft verse in his typical high voice. He adds some banjo to the mix for some twang that I'm not a big fan of, but his guitar and singing sound good as you'd expect. After almost three minutes by himself the band finally joins in to add some bass, drums and light electric guitar to really spice up the final minute of this song. A small taste of a full Iron & Wine, and I liked it! Up next is "Naked As We Came" and Beam leads the way with a much faster acoustic riff that sounds pretty cool. This song is just Beam and a female back-up singer and she only adds some light backing vocals to the chorus. Beam drives this song by himself and his constant guitar playing sounds pretty solid the whole way through. Track 3 is a longer one called "Cinder And Smoke" and Beam plays some slow acoustic guitar to lead the way while Deck plays some interesting percussion in the background. Beam sings a pretty catchy verse that matches the slow mood nicely, then he just holds some long humming in the chorus that isn't all that exciting. Holowicki plays some decent bass in the background at times, but this song really didn't need to be nearly six minutes long, there's just not enough happening for decently long periods. The next track is "Sunset Soon Forgotten" and Beam breaks right into a fast banjo riff that sounds about as cool as a banjo can sound and it makes for a great main riff to tap your toe along to. Beam sings a beautiful verse and chorus overtop and this is definitely my favourite song so far! It's just Beam with no help from the band, but he doesn't need it, he delivers a pretty cool tune all by himself! Track 5 is "Teeth In The Grass" and it's got some banjo and acoustic guitar both going, as well as a decent rhythm section for a much Louder, fuller feel for sure. Beam sings in a nice lower voice overtop and this kinda sounds like it could've been a super old Jethro Tull song (sans flute obviously). The banjo takes the spotlight nicely at times, but Beam repeats the name of the song A LOT on this one. Up next is "Love And Some Verses" and Beam plays a beautiful lead acoustic riff that is constant and flowing and really quite nice. He proceeds to sing a lovely verse to match the beautiful mood and this as the name suggests this is a love song, but it's a really well executed one for this light style. After a couple rounds McKinney plays a cool part that isn't a solo but it's a solid little guitar break before they return to the perfectly breezy main riff to close things out. Very nicely done, this is what the band can bring to things! Track 7 is a short song called "Radio War" and it's just Beam and I believe a ukulele and I like his slow, high verse that he sings, but I'm not a huge fan of the ukulele myself. A bit of a strange interlude. The next track is "Each Coming Night" and it's driven by a happy-sounding acoustic riff with Beam singing a cheerful verse overtop that fits the mood pretty perfectly. Beam is by himself for this whole song and he slows the main riff right down at one point, before speeding back up for the finish. A decent tune, but I generally like the band efforts more. Track 9 is "Free Until They Cut Me Down" and Beam keeps the pace with a fast-paced and solid acoustic riff before the rhythm section falls in nicely behind. Beam sings a nice high verse overtop, even holding a few long notes nicely and eventually McKinney joins in with some guitar that adds another layer to this catchy toe-tapper with some depressing lyrics that don't seem to match the vibe. It's a little repetitive but largely a good song. Up next is "Fever Dream" and Beam plays a slow and light acoustic riff that sounds pretty cool to lead the way. He sings a soft verse that matches the mood perfectly and although this is all just Beam and his guitar this is him at his pop-y and smoothest and it undeniably sounds good even though it's very light and fluffy. McKinney even plays a "solo" with some light electric guitar that spices things up a bit! Another very well executed song! Track 11 is "Sodom, South Georgia" and Beam and McKinney are both playing some different light guitar riffs that seem to clash a little, but it's an interesting and atypical main riff. Beam sings another really smooth verse that eventually devolves into a bit too much just "ahhh ahhh" and they really stick to the main drag for the whole five minutes. It's a decent song, but definitely not one of their better ones. The final song on the album is "Passing Afternoon" and it's a real surprise that this wasn't a single since it's unbelievably smooth and catchy. It's a fairly simple guitar riff and a verse that rolls smoothly along with it; nothing too flashy, but it's just really smooth, like swinging slowly back and forth in a summer breeze. Deck adds some nice piano to the mix as well as after a couple pretty perfectly slow rounds he even plays a cool little piano solo! A pretty perfect way to wrap things up!

That is the end of "Our Endless Numbered Days" and I thought it was a pretty good album for the light style that it was! Sam Beam is still full of catchy riffs and smooth verses and I love that he has a band to help him out sometimes now! I think it's way better than "The Creek Drank The Cradle" and I look forward to seeing where Iron & Wine go from here!