Two Cow Garage – The Death Of The Self Preservation Society

Two Cow Garage has traditionally been a steady go to for rough neck country punks, so it comes as more than a surprise that their latest full length, The Death of the Self Preservation Society, continues their migration from the pasture to rock n’ roll city streets.  Propelled by Micah Schnabel’s recognizably gravely vocals (he stepped out of the Hot Water Music and Against Me! shadow a while back), the album satisfies a vintage rocker’s attitude even if the band overly commits now and again.

Three-piece minimalism is the name of the game here, and Two Cow Garage has fun with their energetic guitar and piano combo without over extending their reach.  The focus lands squarely on swaggering guitar-led rhythms inherent in the likes of “Geri” and “Pantomime.”  Stringing it all together is a roaring piano rock call.  Naturally augmenting songs on an as-needed basis, these forcefully played keys jumps in to the final exhilarating moments of “Van Gough,” all the while enhancing the lethargic emotional crawl of each level-head chorus in “Mantle in ’56.”  It’s a versatile instrument, bouncing from “Hey Cinderella’s” bluesy beat (with an odd hint of The Strokes) into any other number of uses. 

Also worth noting, the American rock narratives of The Hold Steady serve as a sturdy point of lyrical comparison.  “My Friend Adam” best embodies that colloquial style of character-driven story telling with similarly bleak truths of ill-guided life choices, speaking of “killing ourselves quicker and choking on the irony” with regards to taking shortcuts through adulthood a few songs later (“Annie Get Your Guns”).  As such, elements of the album’s title get inserted in various installments of the album, culminating in the title track’s summation of tragic self-sabotage.  The passage “it takes your world being shattered before a person will change,” a song earlier effectively communicates Two Cow Garage’s intent.

The Death of the Self Preservation Society is far from a perfect album (a few choruses, like the knee-jerk “Stars & Gutters,” don’t quite sit well), but these imperfections bestow such believable, forgivable character on the whole.  But Two Cow Garage has moved past its cow-punk days and thus distance themselves from the increasingly crowded scene they once stood out in (with rising stars like Arliss Nancy, this is for the best).  Their latest style positions them closer to bands like The Hold Steady and even The Gaslight Anthem, and it’s a look that suits them very well.