Recorded at Zippah Studio, Brookline, Massachusetts.

The third effort by Willard Grant Conspiracy -- a musical collective with Robert Fisher and Paul Austin in the songwriting chairs -- probes deep into desolate, country territory; the songwriting sensibility draws from West Texas and American Gothic. A core band is aided by players numbering in the double digits, some from indie-rock (Codeine, Come, the Silos and Sugar), but they are far from a noisy post-punk or roots-rock supergroup. Willard Grant merge familiar rock and folk archetypes with some creepy sounds of their own, pushing them closer in spirit to the Louvin Brothers, Lee Hazlewood and Nick Cave than any of their more immediate contemporaries in the No Depression scene. "Color of the Sun," "Right On Time," and "The Work Song" are roots-inspired, while "Go Jimmy Go" is a disconcerting hardcore punk song. The record's superb finale, "The Visitor," is drone-noir, its sound more in line with the Velvet Underground, Dream Syndicate and Spiritualized than anything twangy. ~ Denise Sullivan

An interesting mix of jangly roots rock and country with '60s psychedelia; the dominant feel here is a sort of rueful melancholy. Front man Robert Fisher employs vaguely sepulchral, Nick Cave-ish vocals, and has a fondness for lyrics like "Everything's fallen to pieces, and nothing stays the same." Predominantly acoustic instrumentation adds to the gloom.

There's a hint of Fisher's noise-rock roots in the album's two prominent curveballs. "Go Jimmy Go," is a bracing piece of pop punk which juxtaposes Lou Reed-style solo lines with Ramones-like rhythm guitar, and the concluding "The Visitor" is a fuzz-drenched drone that sounds like the Velvet Underground with their amps turned to 11.