The Felice Brothers [Digipak] (Vinyl - 2008)

Americana hounds often search for a brand of authenticity in their bands, a gritty, ragged feel that connects to the tradition's roots. That authenticity hangs around the Felice Brothers like a halo. It doesn't matter that they're a band of brothers from the streets of New York; they might just as easily have grown up on a backwoods road in the deep South, given the dusty, whiskey-infused poetry of their self-titled sophomore release.

Whether on barroom-style singalongs like "Love Me Tenderly," noir-ish narratives like "Greatest Show on Earth," or achingly lovely snapshots like "Wonderful Life," the Felice Brothers offer a bleary-eyed beauty that recalls Townes Van Zant, Will Oldham, and Bob Dylan's country albums. THE FELICE BROTHERS is contemporary Americana at its most direct and appealing. minimize