Frontier Ruckus

"…delicate, finger-picked banjos, aching, oaky violin and the haunting voice of frontman Matthew Milia, who conjures what might happen had Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum been raised in a log cabin. Their songs are full of rich, rural details: frozen lakes, swaying trees, highway lights glowing in the deep night. Add to the mix baleful brass and trembling percussion, and you've got the perfect recipe for Gothic Americana." – Rolling Stone

"The literate angst and spare, elegant sound of 2010's Deadmalls & Nightfalls, powered by a handful of acoustic instruments… and some tactfully applied horns… suggests a middle ground between the Palace Brothers and Sufjan Stevens, but the effect feels more like the shared experiences of Midwestern brethren than any conscious borrowing, and Milia and his bandmates give this album a full and satisfying sound without sacrificing the open spaces that add so much to the power of this music." – All Music Guide

"On the surface their music is a careful blend of folk and bluegrass, but below the obvious layer many fans sensed an intangible element ingrained within the notes and lyrics Frontier Ruckus, through some kind of rare ability, turned memories into melodies and transformed a from-the-inside-out examination of their native Michigan into a creaky back-porch storytelling session relevant well beyond the Great Lakes. Deadmalls and Nightfalls is a musical map to the psyches of its performers. You will want to know the words by heart to sing under the haze of summer starlight, alongside the roaming river, while drifting down forgotten backroads, and contemplating the causes and effects of urban sprawl." – PopMatters

"Deadmalls and Nightfalls also paints pictures, in vivid imagery of American scenery, life, and love, with not a single word misplaced in its poetic grace. Deadmalls and Nightfalls is an album meant to be combed through and listened to time and again, an album to bask in." – Under the Radar

"So what do banjos, dobros, trumpets, alto horn and a singing saw have in common? One wouldn't think very much were it not for Frontier Ruckus, a citified quintet of rustic folkies whose name belies their mournful melodies. Though they hail from Detroit, their songs evoke the loneliness and isolation of a dust-blown prairie. It's a feeling owed in large measure to vocalist Matthew Milia, a star in the making…However this is no downer. Even in the face of that pervasive yearning, Deadmalls & Nightfalls boasts an unassuming, unfettered appeal that grows more affecting with each successive hearing." – Blurt