One of the most underrated albums released in the past few years that I can think of,  Tree City was the first full-length released by NYC natives Robbers on High Street.  I first caught these guys back around 2005 opening for Hot Hot Heat, and was immediately impressed by their live performance.  I picked up Tree City a few weeks later and was hooked as it became one of those “summer soundtrack” albums.

My guess as to why this album never got a lot of mainstream accolades is probably due to it’s slightly generic indie-rock sound that was being beat to death during it’s release.  It’s unfortunate.  Once you peel off the layers of Tree City, the simplistic songwriting is ultimately more and more rewarding.  Featuring straight up piano rockers (“Spanish Teeth” “Hudson Tubes”) and charmful groove oriented cuts (“Descender” “The Price and Style”) Tree City achieves quantity AND quality with 13 songs clocking in at a near 40 minutes.

Tree City would soon be followed up by 2007′s Grand Animals, an album that failed to capitialize on the same unintrusive sound that hooked me initially.  Since then, I’ve yet to hear much from these guys, heres to hoping they still have some gas left in the tank for another release sometime soon.

Download:: Robbers on High Street – Tree City
Myspace
Official

Related posts: (Hopefully! This is auto-generated)

1. Looking Back: City and Colour – Bring Me Your Love
2. Annuals Post New Song “The Giving Tree”
3. Introducing : This City Sunrise