John M. Tryneski: So I admit to never having heard the Lone Bellow before this, but that’s probably a good thing for the band because there was so much here to sucker me into being a fan. The achy pedal steel, the sweetly sad lyrics, the building beat that makes it perfect driving song — it’s got everything I need from a country song. The fact that the song was apparently and ode to songwriter Zach Williams mother-in-law ups the ante even further. And, to top things off, the video is perfectly suited to its material. Shot in Lafayette, Georgia and starring a well-utilized Virginia Madsen, it does an impressive job of capturing small-town isolation. Madsen’s expressiveness also impressively conveys the constant weight of life’s daily grind heard in Williams’ lyrics. Tomorrow I’ll check out the Lone Bellow’s other songs with fingers crossed, but for right now I’m happy to just enjoy this little slice of something wonderful. [8/10]
Paul Duffus: I’m a sucker for this kind of thing: Earnest, sombre, uncomplicated Americana. That Grant Lee Buffalo fixation has been hard to shift. The analogy to that band is only one of tone though. Long Bellow don’t share GLB’s penchant for grand dramas. With “Fake Roses” they’re closer to the territory of Richmond Fontaine, all “tail lights”, “smokes”, “TV”, “work”, “postcards”, and broken hearts. The video is beautiful. Director Ryan Booth’s photography is feature quality. Regardless of the presence of a Hollywood star, it looks and feels like a trailer for a movie, the kind of small town drama of hardscrabble life where nothing happens for 90 minutes and then someone looks mournfully into a coffee cup and finds extraordinary meaning and revelation before going back to their job at the world’s most depressing launderette, forever changed. All of which flippancy is not a criticism. It’s a gorgeous video, perfectly pitched to its soundtrack. [8/10]
Timothy Gabriele: If it wasn’t so literal an interpretation of the song, the music video would be even more moving. I feel like the song actually sabotages what is a pretty decent short film. Man, even that non-flatscreen TV at 1:56 is sad. Song’s not too bad either. They’re just operating on different aesthetic levels. [5/10]
Lee Zimmerman: Dark, dramatic, and, it might be said, somewhat depressing as well, “Fake Roses” is nevertheless a richly beautiful track from a band whose penchant for enlightened introspection has quickly made them ones to watch. [8/10]
John Bergstrom: It’s textbook alt-country, but it’s done so well it’s tough to resist. It’s a weepie, but they earn the tears. The video is suitably melancholic and tinged with pathos. Get me a craft beer to cry in. I’ve been had. [8/10]