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"Vermilion" Razor and Tie ****
It would probably be stretching it to call them a supergroup, but with a lineage that links the Bangles, the dB's, Dream Syndicate and the Cowsills, there's something sure captivating about the Continental Drifters.
The New Orleans band with the impressive family line has been together since 1991, but it wasn't until this new album that the Drifters finally surpassed the sum of their parts.
Full of ragged acoustic and electric guitars, superb songs and sublime harmonies, "Vermilion" offers a stirring dose of Americana that's got echoes of everyone from the Band and Wilco to Lucinda Williams and the Mamas and the Papas.
Peter Holsapple of the late great dB's, Vicki Peterson of the Bangles and Susan Cowsill of '60s sibling faves the Cowsills are front and center here. Together with Dream Syndicate bassist Mark Walton, guitarist Robert Mache (Steve Wynn Band) and drummer Russ Broussard (Bluerunners), they've forged a sound that's close to the heart and filled with soul.
Issued in Europe last year, this album has taken way too long to come out in the United States.
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