Ear Snacks

That this San Francisco-based band records and performs with numerous like-minded guests suggests the current good health of country rock in Northern California, where most of the guests are based, if not in other parts of the US. There's also a healthy eclecticism to this sixth full-length release by the Brothers Comatose. It extends, at the top of the track list, from mid-century white gospel to a cover of the Stones’ ‘Honky Tonk Women’ to one of the album's two original tracks, with covers of Cake, Springsteen, Tom Petty, Janis Joplin, and R&B jiver Brenton Wood showing up further along. The Brothers’ bluegrassy instrumentation and close-harmony vocals distinguish their approach to covers from the originals, perhaps rendering those songs more accessible to their younger fan base. Guest vocalists, including the three T Sisters (one of whom, Erika Tietjen, is married to the band's lead vocalist and guitarist Ben Morrison) and Lech Wierzynski of The California Honeydrops, change up and enhance the band's sound, although not all songs are equally appealing or well-vocalised. Some of the more dynamic instrumental work is shared between fiddler Phil Brezina and mandolinist and steel guitarist Greg Fleischut.