The Bewitched Hands and Chris Marshall

Unlike French brethren Phoenix, the Bewitched Hands have a touch of Apples In Stereo and Moody Blues mixed well with a dose of Partridge Family. Compositions have big harmonies in the choruses on “Happy With You” and “Underwear,” both are filled with intricate guitar rhythms and psychedelic retro-distortions. “Birds & Drums” brings to mind Family of The Year with its loose campfire melody. And if you can get past the accents, you’ll have a ball with this album and its faux-punk “So Cool” and clap-along theme “Kings Crown” that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Big Audio Dynamite album. There is a sense of fun and experimentation with pop format that makes listening totally unpredictable, a good example of this is “2 4 Get.” The slower tunes tend to get bombastic and don’t hold interest, with the exception of the lovely glam influenced “Sahara Dream” which builds to a full “Spiders of Mars” styled crescendo. Go to Facebook to hear a sample.

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Rarely do I tolerate any pure country album that isn’t “alt”, but Portland-based Chris Marshall just grew on me. “Every time The Wind Blows” has a soulful sound that is both genuine and tells a compelling story. A catchy beat is part of “Look Out Your Window,” one of many gems here. The albums theme is on mortality and god (“Thirty Pieces of Silver”) delivered with Chris’ powerful vocal. The messages here resonate just as strongly as the melodies. Highly recommended.

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