With a little assistance from Ecstatic Peace's in-house purveyor of shred, J Mascis (although here he's mostly on drums rather than guitar), that most dynamic of avant-folk duos, MV & EE return with another predictably brilliant long-player. Following on from where Gettin' Gone left off these songs find Matt Valentine and Erika Elder rocking out on top form, gravitating ever closer to that modern-day Neil Young & Crazy Horse ideal that's been so much a part of their sound. On tracks like 'Get Right Church', the pair recruit a full band backing to install a kind of stargazing boogie-woogie complete with slide guitar that masquerades as a steam train. More electric bliss is to be found on the deep, echo-laden psychedelia of 'Summer Magic, or in the slow blues of 'Bedroom Eyes', but even when stripped to their rootsy acoustic selves there's a haunting, free-roaming quality to the likes of 'Fully Tanked' and 'Snapperhead' that underlines how much more adventurous these guys are than so many of their peers. Highly recommended.
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With a little assistance from Ecstatic Peace's in-house purveyor of shred, J Mascis (although here he's mostly on drums rather than guitar), that most dynamic of avant-folk duos, MV & EE return with another predictably brilliant long-player. Following on from where Gettin' Gone left off these songs find Matt Valentine and Erika Elder rocking out on top form, gravitating ever closer to that modern-day Neil Young & Crazy Horse ideal that's been so much a part of their sound. On tracks like 'Get Right Church', the pair recruit a full band backing to install a kind of stargazing boogie-woogie complete with slide guitar that masquerades as a steam train. More electric bliss is to be found on the deep, echo-laden psychedelia of 'Summer Magic, or in the slow blues of 'Bedroom Eyes', but even when stripped to their rootsy acoustic selves there's a haunting, free-roaming quality to the likes of 'Fully Tanked' and 'Snapperhead' that underlines how much more adventurous these guys are than so many of their peers. Highly recommended.
With a little assistance from Ecstatic Peace's in-house purveyor of shred, J Mascis (although here he's mostly on drums rather than guitar), that most dynamic of avant-folk duos, MV & EE return with another predictably brilliant long-player. Following on from where Gettin' Gone left off these songs find Matt Valentine and Erika Elder rocking out on top form, gravitating ever closer to that modern-day Neil Young & Crazy Horse ideal that's been so much a part of their sound. On tracks like 'Get Right Church', the pair recruit a full band backing to install a kind of stargazing boogie-woogie complete with slide guitar that masquerades as a steam train. More electric bliss is to be found on the deep, echo-laden psychedelia of 'Summer Magic, or in the slow blues of 'Bedroom Eyes', but even when stripped to their rootsy acoustic selves there's a haunting, free-roaming quality to the likes of 'Fully Tanked' and 'Snapperhead' that underlines how much more adventurous these guys are than so many of their peers. Highly recommended.