Multi-Instrumentalists Tackle Doc Watson, Louvin Brothers Classics, Eclectic International Fare
on Harmony-Filled Covers Album Double Whammy, Out July 17
Brooklyn-based duo The Binoculars—a.k.a. Kaethe Hostetter (violin/guitar/vocals) and Chloë Swantner (violin/guitar/lap steel/vocals who is also a luthier)—cook up satisfying stew of harmony-filled classic folk, Global roots, and country on their forthcoming covers album, Double Whammy, also their debut, out on Jalopy Records on July 17.
Lead single “Lookout Heart” is out today. With the addition of the ghostly, high-lonesome warble of Swantner’s lap steel and straight-arrow vocals, The Binoculars tackle long-lost song “Lookout Heart,” a cautionary tale of would-be heartache composed by Lila Duncan for the regional Arkansas label Rimrock Records in 1966. “We found it playful and poignant, and liked how it’s speaking to one heart like a pal rather than an aching piece of ones self,” says Hostetter of the song, which the duo first heard on the “Diesel Smoke & Dangerous Curves” radio show on Jersey City’s crate-digging radio station WFMU. HEAR/SHARE.
In the grand tradition of expertly-curated covers albums in the vein of The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo and the O, Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, Double Whammy—recorded by The Binoculars in a single marathon session—weaves together a sonic patchwork quilt of newly polished gems from classic country, bluegrass, western music, and Appalachian folk music. Their vocal numbers include immediately memorable selections from Americana touchstones such as the Louvin Brothers, Doc Watson, The Delmore Brothers, and The Kershaw Brothers, while the duo’s international picks pluck from a range of ethnicities, everything from Italian and Tex-Mex to Ethiopian.
It speaks to the duo’s ear for a catchy or memorable melody, which they divine from all types of inspired sources—their own international travels (Hostetter lived for a time Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), and old-time radio shows, and the tapes albums Hostetter’s musician parents used to record for friends each year . “We’re both avid listeners, so we chose many of the songs on the album from mixtapes shared by our friends,” says Hostetter. “We have real deep catalog-collector friends, people who like the hidden stuff.”
Country Music Hall of Famers the Louvins do double duty on Whammy, with The Binoculars picking up set-stoppers “You’re Running Wild,” a plaintive number targeting a cheatin’ heart, which sounds like a Flying Burrito Brothers outtake; and “Lorene,” which came to the duo at the suggestion of GRAMMY-nominated multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins, formerly of the Caroline Chocolate Drops. “Lorene” is out June 17 as the duo’s second single.
The duo tackles the Anton Karas instrumental, “Third Man Theme” (out July 17), from the Oscar-winning 1949 noir film The Third Man, which is often named among the best films of all time. The original, which has been streamed 2.4 million times on Spotify, is linked to Hostetter, whose own great-grandfather Ernest Deutsch appeared in the film playing a slimy, violin-playing racketeer Baron Kurtz. It also serves as Whammy’s opening number.
The Binoculars work out “Three in One Two Step,” a fiddle ditty made famous by the East Texas Serenaders in the late ’20s and early ’30s (it’s “crooked” because of its uneven phrasings). Midway point “Your Long Journey,” a sonic, high-lonesome obituary, and album-closer “Long Time Gone,” a lover-lorn ballad (not to be confused with the Crosby, Stills & Nash number) were both hand-me-downs from Hostetter’s parents.
The Binoculars also dip into an international melting pot of discoveries, resurfacing songs such as the instrumental “La Brise Napolitaine” (translation: “The Neopolitan Breeze”), which you can picture a violinist and guitarist serenading at a breezy outdoor cafe in Naples; “Las Tres Elviras” from “The Blind Fiddler” El Ciego Melquiades, a traditionally Tex-Mex, toe-tapping waltz; “Ethiopian Tango,” whose odd time signature harkens East African nightlife of the 70s; and “Morivivi Mazurka Jíbaro,” composed by Hostetter’s late father Paul, a master luthier and talented musician in his own right.
Swantner and Hostetter first met when the former apprenticed with violinmaker Thurmond Knight in Vermont (she hand-built the fiddle she bows in the band). Based in Boston at the time, Hostetter was passing through town in a literal circus band, Cirkestra. They immediately hit it off. Both were West Coasters by birth; as youngsters, they shared the broader musical and artistic communities, and coincidentally shared communities around Festival of Fiddle Tunes which takes place Port Townsend, WA, Swatner’s hometown; and Hostetter’s father’s luthier work was an influence to Swantner’s.
It took thirteen years for Swantner and Hostetter to finally live in the same town—indeed, neighboring apartments in an old Brooklyn factory building—but it wasn’t long before they were working on tunes together. They weren’t even planning on forming a band, but the musical sisterhood won out after their first public show: Each brought their own smorgasbord of influences to the table, were multi-instrumentalists, and things quickly gelled into The Binoculars. Like bloodsisters, their voices match in perfect harmony, and they tip their Stetsons to Americana legends such as The Blue Sky Boys, The Kershaw Brothers, The Louvin Brothers, and the Everly Brothers.
Having played their first show at punk rock bike shop Haven, The Binoculars have gone on to perform enchanting sets at the Brooklyn Americana Festival, Crankie Festival, The Owl, String Band Rendezvous, and more.
Double Whammy full tracklist and credits
1. “Third Man Theme” (Anton Karas – Warner Chappell Music)
2. “Blue Railroad Train” (The Delmore Brothers – Alton Delmore and Rabon Delmore – Vidor Publications, Inc.)
3. “Morivivi Mazurka Jíbaro” (Paul Hostetter)
4. “Why Cry For You” (The Kershaw Brothers – JD Miller and Leon Miller – Sony/ATV Acuff-Rose Publishing)
5. “La Rosita” (Gustave Haenschen – Jalopy Media Group and Jalopy Theatre Media, admin by Heyday Media Group)
6. “Lookout Heart” (Lila Duncan – Oleta Publishing Company, Inc.)
7. “Your Long Journey” (Rosa Lee Watson and Doc Watson – Hillgreen Music/Downtown Music Publishing)
8. “Ethiopian Tango” (Bahta Gebre Hiwot)
9. “You’re Running Wild” (The Louvin Brothers – Ray Edenton and Don Winters – Sony/ATV Acuff-Rose Publishing)
10. “Las Tres Elviras” (El Ciego Melquiades)
11. “Lorene” (The Louvin Brothers – Ira Louvin and Charlie Louvin – Movin Louvin Music/Concord, Songs of Mojo One/Concord and Sony/ATV Tree Publishing)
12. “La Brise Napolitaine” (Jean Peyronnin and Vetese Guerino – Published Editions Beuscher Arpege)
13. “Three In One Two Step” (East Texas Serenaders)
14. “Long Time Gone” (Frank Harford and Tex Ritter – Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
All arrangements by Kaethe Hostetter and Chloë Swantner
The Binoculars Tour Dates
May 26 – Brooklyn, NY – Sunny’s Bar
June 23 – Brooklyn, NY – Sunny’s Bar
July 5 – Chimacum, WA – Finn River Cidery
July 16 – New York, NY – Francis Kite Club – album release (w/ Mamie Minch)
