![]() Once We Were Trees is the band’s sophomore disc, following close on 2000’s self-titled debut. So why not Sade? This is clearly a band with more ambition than your standard issue alt-country combo, and if the stylistic growth and heady evolution in its sound is any indication, it has the chops to match. Country-rock or alt-country might be the easiest tags to hang round the band’s neck, but it doesn’t follow the rules of that genre or any other, it offers more than any pigeonhole could hold. So, the answer to all the above questions? Beachwood Sparks is a California band it is the Byrds and the Beach Boys, Love and Buffalo Springfield, the Minutemen and Rank and File. These songs are drenched in a wash of psychedelic organ and guitar, the whole thing dipped in heavy echo and fuzz. It also answers the questions, “What kind of band is this anyway?” and “Who do they think they are?” On any given track, Beachwood Sparks might come off like a modern day country-rock band, mixing rock beats, pedal steel guitars and soaring vocal harmonies. The answer, of course, is the answer to more than just those questions. This California quartet is our best hope for recreating Gram Parsons’ “Cosmic American Music” with any verisimilitude, so why would they try their hand at a recent adult contemporary hit, and better yet, who would want to hear it? hell, even the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s take on Mike Nesmith’s “Some of Shelly’s Blues” comes to mind - Sade’s “By Your Side” might well be the absolute last thing that would cross your mind. When you think of all the covers you’d like to hear Beachwood Sparks take a stab at - dozens of songs from the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons. ![]()
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