Local Review: Valentine & The Regard – Gave You My Heart

Valentine & The Regard
Gave You My Heart

Feral Cat Records
Street: 10.24
Valentine & The Regard = Jason Molina + Will Oldham+ Sparklehorse

Heartache never sounded so cathartic. Pulling away from noisy aesthetics and gritty blues-fueled riffs, Brigham City’s Valentine & The Regard found the perfect medium to express themes of anguish and despair through stripped-down instrumentation and minimalistic songwriting suggestive of Jason Molina’s most vulnerable moments. “I Just Lie” takes on the ethos of 2 a.m. confessional shared between two people who know how their story ends. Sparse piano keys fill the space behind Mike Maurer’s frail vocals. A song that sounded more like a penned letter never sent, “Save Your Breath’s” flat-picked playing comes and goes like the memories of a lover who cannot be erased. The album’s most compelling track, “I Don’t Wanna Know,” possesses pleasant cooing from Julie Maurer while asking questions that, if answered, would render an undesirable response. Gave You My Heart is the brazen jewel in Valentine & The Regard’s otherwise inexhaustible catalog. –Stephan Wyatt