The Castanets, Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts

Things must be looking up for The Castanets frontman, Ray Raposa. After writing two successive dark and dreary albums, Raposa seems to have come out of the dark with a giant stretch and a yawn. He's created a record, on Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts,that sees him writing songs which don't require Prozac and a doctors note to enjoy. Easily the most accessible album of The Castanets career, Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts is a blinding ray of sunshine that seems almost perky compared to the bands other records.

Sounding something like Tindersticks if they were lost in the Old West, Raposa and his band of musical banditos cross the dusty plains with a weary but glimmering song in their hearts. It's countrified psychedelia that occasionally leaves the trail and heads to the saloon for a dance with a few new fangled synthesizers. As a result, Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts is an intriguing album simply because of how rustic this record manages to be while still embracing elements of technology. It might not be pop in a traditional sense but there are moments where The Castanets at least make you think about it.

As always, The Castanets have made yet another intimate and personal recording. Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beastssounds as if you're along side the band and they're singing every song directly to you around a campfire or bar. This is bizarre and twisted folk music that's been countrified and brought to your living room by one of the most touchy-feely artists today. Ray Raposa will haunt your soul with his songs, and you get the feeling that despite the record being more accessible that's just the way Raposa likes it.

From the glitchy beats of, "Worn From the Fight (with Fireworks)," to the dust storm that is, "My Heart," The Castanets have truly outdone themselves here. Gone is the clinical depression on vinyl and replaced is a sense of yearning and something approaching giddiness no matter how slow paced this record actually is. Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts is a rustic folk record that's not like any other folk record you've heard and that's what makes it worth listening to. Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts is countrified folk music it's ok to like.