Description:
Sam Beam has confessed to finding spiritual inspiration in Tom Waits pice de rsistance, Swordfishtrombones, an album with which Waits upended his previous strategies and forged a new musical language for himself. Recorded by Sam with the assistance of longtime producer Brian Deck and engineer Colin Studebaker, The Shepherds Dog succeeds in accomplishing a similar cathartic recasting of the artists intentions. The arrangements here are kaleidoscopic and rich. `White Tooth Man` rocks with a desperate, menacing intensity while `Boy with a Coin,` the albums first single, is darkly playful with a handclap hook tumbling under its cascading melody. The whole album breathes. Its seductive rhythms percolate and undulate, from the Psych-Bhangra-redux of `Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car` to the albums last dance -- a waltz -- `Flightless Bird, American Mouth.` Compositionally, it is Iron and Wines most ambitious and accomplished recording to date. Its also the most satisfying. (Sub Pop)
