BEACHWOOD SPARKS - MAKE THE COWBOY ROBOTS CRY Vinyl Record | Indie Rock Music Album | Perfect for Road Trips & Relaxing Evenings

I am going to attempt to do one better than the music press by reviewing this album without mentioning 'Strictly Ballroom', 'DNTEL', or making a Sade joke. The new Beechwood Sparks EP has a similar sound to their most recent full length "Once we were Trees"--plenty of steel guitar, harmonica, country flourishes and falsetto vocal melodies, of course--but has new added elements. The sound is hazy and echo laden, creating a smooth, familar vibe, but subtle electronic elements, mellotron and female backing vocals and keyboard percussion on "Ponce de Leon Blues" give "Make the Cowboy Robots Cry" its own distinctive sound. New drummer Jimi Hey sounds great, and DNTEL's (damn, I lost...) Jimmy Tamborello squeaks and blips out "additional sounds". The album generally flows along glacially, much like the more song-oriented post rock outfits, like the Sea and Cake. Most of the tempos are slow and the melodies are majestic, with the exception of the closer "Ghost Dance 1492", which adds a rollicking beat, fuzz guitar, synth noise and vocoder to the mix. "Galapagos" begins as a banjo, guitar and vocal porch jam and evolves slowly with synth and keyboard noises signaling some sort of quiet, rural apocalypse. All six tracks are artfully played and produced, and give generous nods to The Buffalo Springfield, Love, The Byrds, and just about every other 60's LA band, except the Doors. In short, this EP is brilliant.