by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don't Haunt this place (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Rural Alberta Advantage - "Frank, AB" (MP3)

TRAA @ Pianos - their first NYC show (photo by Fred Wilson)

The Rural Alberta Advantage is playing SXSW next week, with shows that include the eMusic Official SXSW Showcase on Thursday, March 19th. They go on right before Grizzly Bear. After that, the band has a short tour booked with The Spinto Band which brings them to Brooklyn's Bell House on Sunday, April 5th. Tickets are on sale. All dates below.

The Rural Alberta Advantage's first-ever NYC show took place January 27th, 2009, at Pianos (pic above). In attendence was eMusic's 17 dots blog, who wrote, "The room was packed, everyone knew every word to every song, the energy was perfect...To anyone who witnessed their performance, it's now a God-given fact that this band is going to make it. Whatever 'it' is these days, they will achieve it." A few months earlier eMusic also ran a feature on them.

The indie-pop trio's sound is greatly bolstered by drummer Paul Banwatt - who fills space in the band's songs sound with a fury of drums that competes with the harmonies of Amy Cole and Nils Edenloff for most immediately gripping element. BV wrote previously that when discussing the Canadian band (from rural Alberta, in fact), "it's hard not to mention Neutral Milk Hotel." That comparison comes from both Edenloff's vocal delivery and lyrical subject matter (wistful innocence, notalgia, but less antiquated and fatalistic than NMH) and the fact that both fill musical space with a similarly unnerving amount of sound - be it organ, drums, trumpet, or voice.

TRAA's debut, 2008's Hometowns, is available from the band; a remixed version of song "Sleep All Day" is up on Green Go's Myspace.

All tour dates and a pair of live videos from the band's NYC debut @ Pianos below...

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