Two-Thirds Goat, New York City’s original “metro-billy” band and an outspoken opponent of mountaintop removal coal mining, has just released its new album, Up the Mountain.

“The music is sort of a fusion of folk, blues, rock, and country,” says lead singer Annalyse McCoy. 

(2/3 Goat at The Quays.  From left:  Neeley Bridges, Jeff Washburn, Zach Jones, Annalyse McCoy, Ryan Guerra, and Ryan Dunn.  Photo:  Jennifer Marie.)

It’s a galloping ride through anger, wit, love, youthful vigor, and a call-to-arms.  The ten-thread band has tightly woven into one colorful fabric of a premier album.  The young musicians demonstrate an uncanny cohesion, clarity, and cleanliness of sound, surprisingly polished for their brief time together.

And with five songs, 2/3 Goat has covered a good swath of territory.

McCoy spoke with TENTHMIL back in April, sharing her story of how she grew up in the east Kentucky coalfields, a daughter of MTR activists, and migrated to NYC with a sharp message carried in her cidery voice.

“I think it’s in me,” she said (referring to the music, not the booze), “The Appalachian sound…I feel like I was born with it almost.”

She draws heavily on her roots for musical style and lyrical subject matter.  She germinated as a performer, fueled by the artistic riches and environmental devastation of Appalachia.  Her band mate Ryan Dunn (guitar, vocals), on the other hand, is from New Jersey’s southern shore and lends a more urban contemporary twist to the music. 

The opening track, Tunnel Vision, features this mix in a fast-flowing jam.  It takes an upbeat little trip through the sensory depravity of the urban jungle, with smart lyrics of someone who yearns for more substance in her lifestyle (“I got the smell of a rose coming through my nose, well it’s a plug in but I almost forget where I am”).  Country girl in the big city.  Classic.

Then, mid journey, they turn up the heat.

Stream of Conscience is a racing anthem of the Appalachian mountains, a tribute to coalfields past, and what McCoy referred to as a “call-to-arms” song.  It alludes to the region’s tainted waters (“Your runoff is not fit for me to drink”), as well as doing the right thing to save them (“It’s your home to lose, It’s your life to choose”). 

Full of imagery and personal anecdote, the song describes the old “dying culture” of coal, which Annalyse was born into, and the drastic difference between the old ways of hand-digging coal from deep in the mountain to the modern mechanized methods (“the mask of progress”) that are rapidly destroying her home land. 

A final charge…“I’d give my whole life, sir, I’d lay my body down.”

The progression to the next track, The Way, says a lot about McCoy and where she comes from.

Appalachians have a special talent for covering a wide range of emotions in one sitting, which serves their dignity well in the midst of furious injustice.  Fighters they are, and reverends as well; after a savage scrap they can smartly turn into a slower stride, and just gently appreciate.  This is so with McCoy’s singing, and equally with her Kentuckian compatriots Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore. 

It’s be wrong to leave the listener hurting, though, and the album wraps up with blues-rocking, duet-ing mojo in Run Around Sue, a funky sound that would make for great dancing at a live show.  Anyone who’s been to see The Bridge should enjoy it.  A sexy bass line, hair-raising harmonies, and guitar and drum solos pump the party’s blood and showcase the talents of the players.

Up the Mountain is a remarkably versatile taste of what this band is capable of.  And considering that half of them are thespians of some kind, they probably put on a great live show too!

It’ll get you educated, fired up, cutting rug, and mellowed out all in under 20 minutes.  Well worth five bucks.  Go get it.

- Up the Mountain (Album cover)