Beachwood Sparks Make the Robot Cowboys Cry
(Rough Trade)
****

To define these California dreamers as alt.country is akin to describing the Beatles as a pop group. It might be true, but it doesn't come close to capturing how Chris Gunst and cohorts take their genre and proceed to bend, twist, enhance and modify it to fit their own bizarre but beautiful visions. Their follow-up to last year's Once We Were Trees takes their rural sound further afield. Here are tales of exploration (a homage to Ponce de Leon with glockenspiel and the high notes of backing singer Mia Doi Todd) and evolution (the distorted vocals and wiry banjo of Galapagos). Drinks Water sums up the mood. Against the soothing sound of heavy-breathing harmonica, the drums are carefully tapped, then the rhythm wakes up and rubs its eyes, bubbling with expectation, before lapsing into exhaustion once again. The album is intoxicating and mildly disturbing; at just 28 minutes long, it leaves you wanting more.