Chris Spencer, the lone remaining founding member in this two-decades-old power trio, uses twangy reverb on the album's opening riff and plays a wicked harmonica solo during the sludge-blues number "This Stops at the River." Taken alone, these sounds conjure images of cowboys singing next to a campfire, but within these songs they catalyze high-volume explosions, like stray sparks that convert tumbleweed into forest-razing flameballs.
Spencer's slow, fuzzy leads are like half-speed surf-guitar melodies, and his shouted vocals sound stronger and clearer than they have in years.
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