City Sun Eater in the River of Light, Woods, 2016, :42
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Odd album name, impenetrable band name, and primitivist drawing of a skull on the cover? I'm in! I'm not sure what to call this music. Maybe psychedelic-folk-funk? At times it approaches blue-eyed soul. At times it's sort of druggy and spaced out. At times it's even eerie, in a laid-back, hippie kind of way. Some, like "Sun City Creeps," showcase reggae beats. This array of styles is cohesive, though, with pop hooks and skilled instrumentation; it all sounds confident and assured, not like dabbling or dilettantism. The falsetto singing lends the whole an unearthly quality, but I did find myself wishing there was another voice or two to give a vocal range to match the musical innovation. A very pleasant discovery. Favorite tracks: "Hollow Home," "Creature Comfort."
