Now here’s a concept album that will blow your mind. The Dimes dig out colourful characters from early American history and make them love, suffer, triumph, fail and die. Set to lush Folk Rock harmonies that would do the Byrds proud, the unusual lyrics unravel a story every bit as gripping as a blockbuster movie.

Abolitionists, suffragettes and a 19th century fireman struggle through chief songwriter Johnny Clay’s songs.The band from Portland, Oregon, on the North West coast of the US has dedicated its second album to the history of one particularly eventful place on the other side of the continent: Boston. The Dimes take you on a whistle-stop tour through Boston after which you’ll be familiar with the history of Charles Street Prison before it was turned into a boutique hotel and the streets where the Great Fire of 1872 raged. I’ve never been to Boston, but The Dimes conjure up some vivid images.

On this virtual tour of Boston you’ll meet some interesting locals you might not have heard of before. Clara Barton, founder of The American Red Cross, William Lloyd Garrison who slammed slavery in his abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, suffragette Susan B. Anthony, painter Winslow Homer and judge Webster Thayer who presided over the Sacco and Vanzetti trial. Love, passion and death - the real life variety - inject more drama into ‘The King Can Drink The Harbour Dry’ than your average Rock album can muster. The Dimes sure know how to tell a good story.

If this sounds rather bookish to you, check out ‘Damrell’s Fire’ and ‘Save Me, Clara’ below. You can download both album tracks for free from our RSS feed. This is prime Folk Rock with ringing guitars, soaring harmonies and easy flowing rhythms framing The Dimes’ historical fantasies. Somehow these guys manage to pack the punch of seminal 60’s rockers The Byrds when it comes to delivering clean, uncluttered melodies.

Play The Dimes: ‘Damrell’s Fire’

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Play The Dimes: ‘Save Me, Clara’

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Concept albums are a much maligned genre and alternative acts usually avoid them like the plague. Following up their 2007 debut ‘The Silent Generation’ with a concept album is therefore a brave step for The Dimes. What makes this move work is the fact that The Dimes spool off twelve consistently solid songs and no fillers on ‘The King Can Drink the Harbour Dry’.

The album is due to be released on Pet Marmoset Records on 1st December 2009. Fans of Fleet Foxes, Iron And Wine etc. should make a mental note to check out The Dimes.

We say:

Watch The Dimes Play ‘Abigail Don’t Be Long’

The Dimes at St. Cupcake from The Penny Jam on Vimeo.