The Rural Alberta Advantage begs for Neutral Milk Hotel comparisons — see Paul Banwatt’s nasal shout, or the ubiquitous fuzzed-out acoustic guitar — but they aren’t entirely deserved. That’s certainly no knock: Hometowns, the band’s reissued 2008 album, is a well-crafted bit of folk that needn’t stand on the shoulders of giants. Especially the wrong giants. So the opening bars of “Frank, AB” sound a bit like Jeff Mangum’s handiwork, as do those horns on “Luciana.” As a whole, though, Hometowns trades in understated arrangements and empty space. An intricate cymbal line underlies the album-opener, “The Ballad of the RAA,” while spare interplay between an organ and a couple of drums props up “In the Summertime.” Even a fast-paced song like “Don’t Haunt This Place” eschews guitar, relying instead on clipped drums and mournful strings. Banwatt is a screamer, but his songs are precise, delicate creatures. MORE
