I'll Follow You

It is just plain wrong that this appears to be the first review of what will surely be one of this season's finer albums. But in fairness to the masses, it's only been a year since I saw them open for Calexico. Hopefully, word will text-message its way out quickly to the awaiting masses.Don't let the low-key opener "Marine Life" fool you. This Brooklyn-based band has the chops to grab the listener by whatever and take them for a psychedelic jam-ride that will leave them eager for more. Case in point, the fun-filled romp of "No Dreams" - an engaging guitar-fest would be at home on any of their previous albums - simply sets you up for the sheer delight of the country-tinged "Rue The Blues." Things then slow down and heat up for "Angela," a touching ballad graced by Rachel Cox's charming vocals and the wonderful "Free Radicals Lament."The pace picks up again with the appealing "All The Way Down" setting you up for the superb title cut. "I'll Follow You" - the album's finest song - is easily the best Lindsey Buckingham song he never recorded. "First Frist" is a pleasantly relaxed tune sandwiched between the more boisterous "Best of Luck" and "Alive Among Thieves." Although not as engaging, "Rogue Revelator" is nonetheless salvaged from filler status by Pat Sullivan's earnest vocal and some fine guitar work. Fred Wallace's banjo accents the album's finale, the exquisite "Take My Hands, We're Free" bringing closure to an impressive collection of music that should bring this fine and talented band into greater prominence.

You just have to look at the cover art of their albums to know what this band is all about. If Neil Young & Crazy Horse and Steeleye Span had a baby, and The Meat Puppets and Fairport Convention had a baby, and those two grew up and had a baby that grew up in the U.S. its name would be Oakley Hall. As the Seatle guy says it might not be Americana, but it might be electric mushroom Americana.

I'll Follow You is a very fine fourth CD from Oakley Hall, a band founded in 2002 and named after Oakley Hall, an American novelist. It builds on the strong "hybrid' musical template they established with Second Guessing (2005) and Gypsum Strings (2006). The group has been described as "psychedelic" but this is really a bit misleading. There are some echoes of classic west coast bands like Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Byrds (elements of All The Way Down), and Papa John Creech's playing with Jefferson Airplane in much of their delivery, but in fact they combine all sorts of elements from rock, bluegrass, and old-time music, often featuring the male-female vocal harmonies of lead vocalists Patrick Sullivan and Rachel Cox as on No Dreams, I'll Follow You, Free Radicals Lament (which also has some great electric fiddle) and Best Of Luck. It's not Alt Country (too many "psychedelic" guitar solos) but it's certainly not "psychedelic rock" as most people know it! The bands lyrics sometimes recall the feel of old American folk songs and ballads (First Frost) but with a sardonic contemporary edge (eg Rue the Blues), but they are usually delivered with a strong rock beat. In addition to the usual guitars, bass guitar, and drums, the group also uses electric fiddle, an electric guitar tuned like a five-string banjo (Free Radicals Lament) and a lap steel guitar (Angela and I'll Follow You).A really fine CD, costly I know but still well worth the money.

ニューヨークの男女混合オルカンバンドの４作目。前作のサイケでガレッジな感触はちょっと薄れ、よりルーツィなロックになっている、が、基本的には大きな変化はないし、良作。音の入れ方、トラディショナルな楽器の使い方等々、相当センスの良いバンドだと感じる。お勧め！