Skygreen Leopards Disciple of California Label: Jagjaguwar Release Date:10/24/2006

The more I listen to these songs the more they grow on me. At first the album seemed too simple and slow, the lyrical imagery too obtuse. But after a repeated spins the subtle craft revealed itself to me, fragilely spun together with a listening mindset of stoned attention, with much care taken in creating a subtle ambience seasoned with loving chosen tones. The acoustic guitar foundation and vocals are pure millennium neo-folk, but the rest is a blend of that warm 50s and 60s tube-amplified jukebox, country, and AM radio Americana. This presence of summer youth, half-naked hiding in the countryside greenery, teasing but offering just a little bit more with every glimpse pervades the mellow nostalgic mood. It’s the lure of sun-tanned California maidens in full bloom playing hide-and-seek with a promise and a kiss, all sepia-toned in fond memory.

Actually it makes me want to change my opinion of Cali as this prefab plastic world of masquerade and image. Just outside the cities, north and east, there’s this portrait of Californian green vineyards, sunlight flashing on the ocean, and bohemian commune bliss. It’s the setting, not the subject, and it makes the songs feel original and worthwhile. These are tunes to entertain, to remember, and to sway together to.

I’m especially enamored of a guitar sound that drifts in and out of half the album – a chimey, thin-as-reeds antique playing quaintly simple melodies that would sound perfectly at home coming from an old radio with scratchy speakers and the feel of drinking lemonade in an Omaha kitchen without air-conditioning, fan slowly turning, lethargic and warmly content. Years later, the melody returned, repeating over and over, till you grabbed your girl the two of you slow danced to your own private rhythm.

I was trying to imagine where I would like to hear this music, so mellow and sweet with a calm undercurrent of sadness for a time lost in childhood, idealism, the sixties, whatever. It was that gentle dancing as the sun rises up to signal the beginning of a new day for them, and the time to retire for us. Disciples of California very much invites the listener to “tune in, and drop out,” out of the rat race, out of the city, into a peaceful country exile of relaxation and sunny California days.

And, Who Is Sally Orchid?

Skygreen Leopards - Disciples of California

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 21st, 2006 at 5:32 pm and is filed under CD/LP. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.