Oakley Hall's third record doesn't change the formula they've established so far: strong vocal harmonies borrowed from country & western, plenty of space for guitars and amplified fiddle to trade licks, and songs that take two or three chords and run them like pack horses. They don't play the clichés for laughs but still keep full-on country at arm's length. Think of them like a cover band whose van broke down somewhere in the lower Midwest, and they stayed on to become the house band at the local tavern, milking it for free room and drinks.
Everything that worked on previous records works here. It's like the recent Second Guessing but more so-- the ingredients of the recipe are that much more prominent."Lazy Susan" shows more of the marathon monotony of Pat Sullivan's former band Oneida, and there are a few more psychedelic interludes coming in at the corners, like the fleet-fingered opening guitar figure on "Confidence Man" or the brief quoting of Hendrix's "Castles Made of Sand" on the otherwise somber "Nite Lights, Dark Days". Some of the seams are a little too visible, like the traditional folk verses that collide with the ragged Crazy Horse fury of the riff on "House Carpenter" that quickly grows predictable. Brief moments of Gypsum Strings prove they could push their experimental side just an inch or two further, had they wanted to. "Living in Sin in the USA" diverts the middle of the record with a fluttering organ part that shouldn't mesh with the band's country affectations. It somehow makes the steady pace of the ballad even lovelier, though it's helped by Rachel Cox's solo vocal that cements her as the star of the record.
So why do I like this one less? Call it too much of a good thing, or simply a lack of ambition-- inviting guest stars to play tabla (Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Brian Chase on "Bury Your Burden") isn't enough of a step forward on a band's third record. Gypsum Strings is like an appendix to Second Guessing, looser and more carefree. Here the band only occasionally show greater attention to detail, most notably on "Living in Sin in the USA" or the drifting detour at the end of "If I Was in El Dorado". Despite how soon Gypsum Strings arrived-- it's their second album in four months-- I'd hoped for more of those moments.
