Vetiver - Tight Knit

Andy Cabic and company follow Vetiver’s 2008s covers album “Thing of the Past” with “Tight Knit”, an album featuring ten original songs. The tone of this album is bright and happy. Really, really happy. Simply put, “Tight Knit” puts a big smile on my face every time I listen to it. And I have listened to it over and over again, hearing something new on every listen. This is one of those special albums that feels like home. The overall vibe and lyrics of the album connote the special memories in life. A beautiful summer, or an evening by the fire at the cottage. I can not emphasize the warmth of this album enough. Cabic has created something special with this album. “Tight Knit” opens with “Rolling Sea” a mellow acoustic folk-diddy with warm fuzzy piano work and of course, Cabic’s unique and heartwarming vocals. “Everyday” is an upbeat, uplifting tune juxtaposed with lyrics about love and loss. It’s the perfect tune for lying around on a sunny Sunday afternoon. “Down From Above” is a lush song, rich with acoustic guitars, keyboards and hushed vocals. It is a quiet whisper of a song in an otherwise bright album. It undeniably reminds of me The Slip’s “Suffocation Keep”. It’s a gentle lullaby, fitted perfectly into this spectacular album. “On The Other Side” kicks off with a drum machine beat that you just can’t help but bob your head to. The arrangement is sparse and simple, but the harmonizing bluesy guitar riffs and easy-wah wah tinged solos are the perfect touch to this great tune. Cabic nods to the rock and roll doo-wop of the 1950s on “More Of This”. This track has the catchiest chorus on the album, and the guitars are full of twang. “Another Reason To Go” is a funky track which features some killer horns and keyboard work. It’s amazing how Cabic’s plaintive voice works so well with such a wide range of rock styles. His voice is really one of the most underrated in rock and roll today. The last track on the album, “At Forest Edge” is the standout. It creeps up, growing steadily louder and louder, much like Traffic’s psychedelic “The Low-Spark of High-Heeled Boys”. The pounding but distant drum beat helps set the tone for this LSD-tinged song. Cabic’s voice acts as both the background and lead vocals, in a call and response fashion that you just can’t help but get lost in. The slide-guitar fades in and out of the song. It grows and it crawls is a mesmorizing fashion. Cabic’s gentle vocals are melodic and dreamy. “At Forest Edge” is modern psychadelia at its finest; a reinvention of what defined music of the 1960s and 1970s. For those who have followed Vetiver, this is THE album. A full realization of what their sound has been growing to. This will likely be one of the best, but most-overlooked albums of 2009.