Daniel Romano’s Modern Pressure

By Jake Tully

Inhabiting a curious space of a counter-culture fascination with country and a disillusionment with the convention of genre-styling, Daniel Romano has nonetheless become an icon for the adversarial and intellectual Western tart. Modern Pressure may not be music for lovers, a soundtrack for gunslingers or even something that cousin Jethro will find all-too familiar, but with his latest release Romano transcends those sneaky feelings and delivers a valiant and nostalgic record for the disenchanted among us.

Romano is the friend of a friend that shows up to a soiree with hallucinogens and fringe jacket, ready to introduce the present frizzy-haired hipsters to Johnny Paycheck and Gram Parsons. There’s the removed familiarity of Romano’s voice throughout Modern Pressure – you’ve heard it before but you’re not certain where. At times, Romano can sound like a modernistic Robert Plant, lilting above a mystic valley-type outfit while soaring back down and nestling into the shoulder of a 60’s pop icon (a la, The Association, for example.)

Romano frequently plays with the motif of leaving one’s plane of existence to enter another, as demonstrated in the jaunty “Roya.” With a few listens the initial bemusement with the idea of entering a separate plane of consciousness soon becomes a genuine request. Romano yearns for the cowboy fascination of meeting the moon and stars, but instead of simply moseying on by he wants to transcend them altogether. While he may not have a crystal collection within arm’s reach, Modern Pressure sees Romano beckoned by the new-money spiritual realm nonetheless.

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Jake Tully

Based out of the San Fernando Valley, Jake is a LA transplant who is fascinated with the history and continuation of the Americana scene in Southern California. After moving down to the area to pursue a degree in Journalism from CSUN, Jake has found seemingly countless opportunities to find new music in the Greater Los Angeles area and the friendly disposition of the folks interested in the music. Jake enjoys going out in the field and chronicling the culture surrounding festivals and shows dedicated to keeping country music alive, but finds just as much solace in taking an evening to sit back and letting his vinyl collection wash over him. He believes there is a still a great deal of explanation to be done in order to help explain the divide between pop country and the bonafide music, and has made it one of his goals to entertain this notion through his writing.

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