The close boy-girl harmonies and vintage instruments (banjo, steel, fiddle) shout alt-country purism, but Brooklyn’s Oakley Hall don’t care about following the party line. Amid elegant tales of “simple sadness,” Patrick Sullivan and company hint at broader possibilities on their fourth album, verging on a nasty ZZ Top-like boogie in “No Dreams” and tiptoeing into funk on the crunchy rocker “Alive Among Thieves.” Best of all, the light-headed “All the Way Down” recalls the anything-goes spirit of the Byrds, decorating an old-timey lament with buzzing space-age guitars.
Now Hear This: Oakley Hall – “No Dreams” DOWNLOAD MP3
More on Oakley Hall: Live from Brooklyn’s McCarren Park Pool
