Tight Knit [PA] [Digipak] (CD - 2009)

Personnel: Andy Cabic (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, keyboards, drum machine, percussion); Sanders Trippe (vocals, guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar); Eric L. Johnson (vocals, keyboards); Kevin Barker (guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar); Adam Peters (cello); Bill Armstrong (trumpet, flugelhorn); David Stout (trombone); Jonathan Wilson (Clavinet); Otto Hauser (drums, percussion).

Audio Mixer: Thom Monahan.

Audio Remasterer: J.J. Golden.

Recording information: Five Star Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Greensboro, NC; Melva, Los Angeles, CA; The Hanger, Sacramento, CA.

Arrangers: Thom Monahan; Bill Armstrong; Andy Cabic.

Following the excellent covers album THINGS OF THE PAST, Vetiver's third album of original material, TIGHT KNIT, is even more easy-rolling and sunny-sounding than their earlier releases. Leader Andy Cabic is often thrown into the "freak folk" pigeonhole for his close association with Devendra Banhart, but his style is closer to the early-'70s Laurel Canyon sound than anything else. And rather than polish things up on their first album for the Sub Pop label, Vetiver moves even deeper towards a soft, subtle, timeless brand of dew-dapppled folk rock. Just when you think the band is getting ready to bust out into a big, bold chorus, they bring the dynamic back down to a simmer, but throughout the album Cabic and company remain eminently accessible and unfailingly melodious. minimize