They Came from Somewhere

For their third outing, Clothesline Revival take a different tack to their earlier releases. Where those had relied heavily on vocals as part of the song structure, here the emphasis is decidedly instrumental. The duo of Conrad Praetzel and Robert Powell do most of the work, composing the music, creating the melodies and atmospheres, but they do import a couple of guests, notably Charlie Musselwhite, who contributes his inimitable harmonica to a pair of cuts. This is still very much roots music, but served up with continuing twists so that it almost seems to have passed through a fun house mirror (which fits in well with the treated cover art). "TV Preacher," for instance, swells with suitably cheesy organ, while "Return to Ioana" has delicious pedal steel that edges toward country but never goes all the way. "Beautiful Home" harks back to their earlier work, using a vocal sample and builds a little piece of heartache around it, while "Rowing Away" makes for an apt closer, since it does seem to vanish into the distance. There's something different and special going on here, a mix of past and present where mood of the track is every bit as important as the melodies it contains.