AS IT EVER WAS, SO IT WILL BE AGAIN

This folk/indie rock band with proggy tendencies hails from Portland, Oregon. This is their 9th album and with this one they return somewhat to some more progressive leanings after forays into more pop aspects on their last couple albums. This is a major, quite ambitious release (13 tracks, nearly 68 minutes long) featuring many different styles, somewhat broken into sections. The first section (4 tracks) features more indie rock/folk rock, accessible tracks and some of the best songs on the album, with upbeat vocals and melodies (even though dealing with melancholy subjects). The next section (4 tracks) features more traditional folk songs, slower with mainly acoustic guitar (and a plaintive horn section) and moving folky vocals and melodies, culminating with the love song All I Want is You. The next section (4 tracks) features more rock and diverse mixture of styles (but more rock and pop, less folky, even some psychedelia). Lastly (in a section all to itself), is the epic-length experimental track Joan in the Garden, which clocks in at just under 20 min, and also consists of three main sections, the first is built on a somber, moving melody that builds from an acoustic opening to fully orchestrated with vocal choir dramatic conclusion, but then the song goes into a section of ambient and random sounds and spoken words (that goes on too long) before finishing with a surprisingly rockin' closing section and one of the highlights of the album. Overall, a quite wonderful, moving, and satisfying album. Best Tracks: Burial Ground, Oh No!, America Made Me, Never Satisfied, Born to the Morning, All I Want Is You, Joan in the Garden. Rating: 4 stars