The Whaler, the sophomore album by Home Is Where, was easily one of my favorite albums of 2023. A concept album set in a time warp where 9/11 occurs over and over again, its surreal, visceral imagery painted a picture of humanity numbed by a constant stream of daily atrocities; as each day’s news seems to detail assaults on our basic rights, it’s a work of art that has only become more resonant since its initial release. Since then a lot has happened. Singer Bea MacDonald and guitarist Tilley Komorny both left their home state of Florida as the government picked up its attacks on trans rights. The band spent an extended period of time on the road touring. And they returned to the studio to record their third album, Hunting Season. A fifty five minute behemoth, it’s a challenging but worthy successor to The Whaler.
Hunting Season continues the band’s tradition of high concept albums. This time, the narrative centers around the simultaneous vehicular deaths of thirteen different Elvis impersonators, each song capturing the final thoughts of one of the baker’s dozen. You mileage may vary. As with previous albums, I found it hard to parse out the specifics. The theme acts more as a conceptual framework, one where Home Is Where play with various types of American iconography. Some of this is sonic; the band cite Flying Burrito Brothers and Gram Parsons as influences, and the result is a fascinating hybrid of country rock and midwest emo. But it’s just as much about the imagery they play with: litter strewn along the highway margin, fishing with a cooler filled with warm beer, American flags waving in the wind, burgers grilling on the fourth of July. Those signifiers mix with details of the Elvises untimely ends, skin, blood and guts strewn over the pavement. As American carnage plays out around us, the poetry of these songs manage to capture the psychic and physical violence of the moment.
The fifty five minute runtime of Hunting Season is about as long as both previous Home is Where albums combined, and although there are more hits than misses, the album doesn’t always justify this runtime. One of the most distinctive tracks, “Roll Tide”, is a ten minute jam session that feels unfocused and aimless; the latter half of the album drags without enough ideas to clearly distinguish one song from another. But these flaws are also part of the album’s charm. I much prefer artists who are willing to take a swing even if it doesn’t always hit its mark; despite some unevenness, their batting average is still higher than almost all of their contemporaries. With Hunting Season, Home Is Where once again prove they are one of the most exciting bands of their generation.