When the Milk Carton Kids first hosted the 2018 Americana Music Association’s Honors and awards Ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium, they delivered their special brand of self-deprecating humor and wry repartee, reminiscent of the early Smothers Brothers, and charmed the audiences before their unique blend of harmony and guitar skills stole the stage.
Founded in 2011, Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale were both working on solo careers before Ryan attended Pattengale’s show in their hometown, Eagle Rock, California. Since then, they’ve gone on to earn a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album for The Ash & The Clayin 2013 and a second nomination in 2015 for Best American Roots Performance for “The City of Our Lady” from Monterey, their third studio album.
Now on the heels of their full-band album All the Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn’t Do(to which they refer in jest as ATTTIDAATTTIDD), they have returned to their strength as a duo, releasing the 7-song album The Only Ones on the Thirty Tigers label.
Once again, their strong lyrics, vocal blend, and instrumental accompaniments have come together in a project that holds up after listening again and again. After the opening track, “I Meant Every Word I Said,” a slow, more tender song, “I’ll Be Gone” picks up the pace. The title track “The Only Ones,” released on video, is at once mellow and jaunty. Most haunting is “My Name Is Ana,” evoking the story of Anne Frank with its lyrics: “My name is Ana. You might have read about me. I live in the attic with my family.”
In addition to picking up this new CD, fans of their music should try to catch them live while they’re still playing smaller, more personal venues. With their consistent track record, they’ll be filling up larger concert halls all too soon.