The Jayhawks – Mockingbird Time

I have been a sucker for the Jayhawks’ sound since day one.  I have been waiting with anticipation since this release was announced.  The gimmick here is that Mark Olson was back.  I watched the teaser live show on The Current (local MPR radio station) and was enthralled.  I bought the disk within 30 minutes of my local Best Buy opening on release Tuesday this week.  I threw it on my home system and I was underwhelmed.  But subsequent listens have proven there is more there than what I first thought.  This sounds very much like mid-nineties Jayhawks but without a song that really grabs you – at first.  But like I said subsequent listens reward.  This is a texture record – one you have to excavate through the layers.  The harmonies are amazing – no surprise there.  The guitar work is tender – again no surprise there.  I think what is really grabbing me is the arraignments and overall ambiance of the recording – very simple at first listen – but there is a complexity to that simplicity.  I think any Jayhawks fan is going to love this record.  For newcomers – if you like that mid 70’s singer songwriter great production sound, alt country vibe and CSN style harmonies – get this album and listen to it at least 5 times – I think it will become a repeat player in your collection.

You can stream the album from: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-album-stream-the-jayhawks-mockingbird-time-20110913

I have not been able to find a full video of The Current show, but i was able to find this excerpt: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/09/13/jayhawks/

By the way The Jayhawks’ web site is pretty amazing – great video clips and some nice bootlegs you can download: www.jayhawksofficial.com