First real full-length from this great Columbia, Missouri group that channel 70s basement rock that combines nods to classic form – Lou Reed, Sweetheart-era Byrds, Royal Trux – with a crude, loose feel and some great, great songs. Wooden Wand is a long-term fan and it’s easy to see why: Jerusalem have a similar way of illuminating and re-birthing singer-songwriter styles with liberal injections of beneath-the-radar form and lessons learned and imported from the fringes of the fucked. Indeed, the arc of their trails also kind of parallels the whole Columbus scene – Gibson Brothers/Bassholes/Mike Rep/Tommy Jay et al – with an ‘insider’ take on rock mores, an intuitive grasp of classic hunch and the ability to marry unforgettable melodies with enough balls and brut to make even the most committed of free-form freaks see the goddamn light. I dunno, this is great, a more countrified Royal Trux, the record Peter Laughner never made... whatever, this sits right *there* and is almost enough to restore your faith in the power of rock-as-rock/song-as-song. Recommended!