Beachwood Sparks Once We Were Trees CD

With a psychedelic badge sewn firmly on their record's sleeve (note the band's pastel-colored heads growing out of a leafy tree on the cover of ONCE WE WERE TREES), Beachwood Sparks settle deeper into the shimmering rustic groove established on their eponymous debut. As songs like "Yer Selfish Ways" bite the Byrds' harmonies or, like "Manatee," evoke the slowpoke country of HARVEST-era Neil Young, the quartet clearly dwell in the sunniest patch of Laurel Canyon--or at the very least in a backyard in Silverlake with a record collection full of late '60s L.A. darlings.

What makes them such a good band--and among the finest in the alt-country pantheon--is their ability to dust their influences with a contemporary resonance. Recorded at J. Mascis's western Massachusetts studio, ONCE WE WERE TREES has enough unique touchstones--arpeggios layered to a near ridiculous degree, clarity-hampering effects, and even bursts of guitar noise (such as on "You Take the Gold" and the mind-melding title track)--to stake a claim of modern ownership on the vintage L.A. sounds. Besides, with songs as infectious as "The Sun Surrounds Me," who's counting references?

Additional personnel includes: Ben Knight (guitar).

Recorded at Bob's Place Studios, Levrett, Massachusetts.

Personnel: Brent Rademaker (vocals); J Mascis, Ben Knight (guitar); Dave Scher (steel guitar, keyboards); Aaron Sperske (drums).

Audio Mixers: Thom Monahan; Mike Deming; Beachwood Sparks.

Recording information: Bob's Place, Levrett, MA.

Photographer: Autumn DeWilde.

Unknown Contributor Role: Chris Gunst.

Beachwood Sparks includes: Aaron Sperske, Brent Rademaker, Chris Gunst, Dave Scher.

2nd Rel

Spin (12/01, pp.154,157) - 8 out of 10 - "...Sincere paeans to growth, self-realization, and tree-hugging transcendence....the best West Coast country-rock band since '80s insurgents the Long Ryders..."
Alternative Press (2/02, p.65) - Ranked #23 in AP's "25 Best Albums of 2001".
Alternative Press (12/01, p.83) - 8 out of 10 - "...Avoiding irony and smarm...this gives off good vibrations..."
Magnet (p.85) - "Many of the album's tracks began nice and steady with honky-tonk fingerpicking and woozy pedal steel but ended in a miasma of organ drone and haunting harmony vocals."
CMJ (10/8/01, p.5) - "...A relaxed, panoramic sound and psychedelic effects gently mutating together..."
Mojo (Publisher) (11/01, p.100) - "...They take the nascent country rock of The Byrds and extrapolate every last ounce of plangent guitar chime and yearning vocal polyphony until they ring afresh..."