A Night in the Box: Write a Letter

Hailing from Minneapolis, A Night in the Box has released their sophomore disc of rock and roll, blues, and bluegrass. This disc is marked by the addition of fourth member Kailyn Spencer on violin. Lead singer Clayton Hagen recalls Robert Plant in his vocal delivery almost to the point of ripping him off. Other times the group sounds like the protégé of the White Stripes with their gritty stripped-down blues.

While the disc has some songs that follow a format of violin-tinged, banjo-led rock, sometimes the album sounds like two different bands altogether. For instance, the album shifts from the epic, multi-layered, old-time love song “By the Sea” to raucous, sloppy, and cow-bell driven “The Rich Man’s Table”. Despite this inconsistency and a few skip-able tracks, Write a Letter is a rocking blues excursion.