Roomsound is Califone’s debut full-length for Perishable Records, originally released in 2001. The Chicago band, which formed from the ashes of Red Red Meat, explores blues, folk, country, and rock sounds w/ small doses of electronica thrown in (subtle layers that require careful listens), with Tim Rutili handling most of the writing. Check out “Bottles and Bones (Shades and Sympathy),” the intimate, banjo-driven number with an addictive hook, or “Trout Silk,” or the suspenseful, slide-guitar sounds of “Trout Silk.” “Porno Starlet Vs. Rodeo Clown” is characterized by ethereal soundscapes and scattered, stripped-down percussion work, and “Tayzee Nub” is another highlight on the 15-tracker. Really good and pretty stuff that can be summed up as “a tasty crop of timeless, time-lapse hymnals and thick industrial folk as only they can do.”

• etched D-side
• printed inner sleeves
• digital download included
• music label: Dead Oceans 2001 / 2016

reviewed by donut savage 10/2016