Beachwood Sparks are good at reunions, but continuity is an issue. The Los Angeles-based country-rockers are back after a 12-year hiatus, which followed a four-year break, which came after a five- or six-year break. All told, since forming in 1997, the band has spent more time apart than together. No surprise, then, that Beachwood Sparks have released just a handful of albums over the years, including Across the River of Stars—the group’s first new LP since The Tarnished Gold in 2012.
In truth, they’ve got a good gig. The core members of the group keep busy with other projects: Christopher Gunst fronts Mystic Chords of Memory, Brent Rademaker is part of The Tyde and “Farmer” Dave Scher works as a sound healer when he’s not playing with Elvis Costello, Interpol, Jenny Lewis, Cass McCombs or Animal Collective. When the mood strikes, and schedules align, Gunst, Rademaker and Scher reconvene as Beachwood Sparks and summon the spirit of Southern California circa 1968, on songs full of hazy melodies, jangly guitars and just a touch of psychedelia.
That has consistently been the band’s aesthetic, something that hasn’t changed by bringing Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson on board to produce Across the River of Stars. Beachwood Sparks’ cosmic Americana leanings are in full effect right from the start, as they roll through a fast shuffle that blends saloon piano, bright, trebly guitar licks and tight, wordless vocals on opener “My Love, My Love.” Later, “Gentle Samurai” pairs chiming guitars with kaleidoscopic vocals that sound like they could have come from a late-night jam session at Cass Elliot’s house, where plenty of musicians used to swap songs at all-night parties. (By some accounts, that’s where Crosby, Stills & Nash was born in 1968.)
Beachwood Sparks excel at evoking that time period—sometimes to a fault—largely thanks to the seemingly effortless way Gunst, Rademaker and Scher combine their voices. Yet just when they’re on the verge of sounding like Laurel Canyon cosplayers, the band shows a capacity to go a different direction. The moody “Faded Glory” has a drier, dusty feel, thanks to Scher’s pedal steel guitar, while album closer “Wild Swans” has a more up-to-date indie-pop sensibility, with sunshiney guitars and wistful vocals that refract into prismatic harmonies on the chorus.
It’s worth wondering what direction Beachwood Sparks’ music might have gone in if the band had remained the musicians’ main focus over the past quarter-century, or if they had worked together with more regularity. That said, they’re good at what they do, and the long intervals between albums makes it easy to welcome them back.
Eric R. Danton has been contributing to Paste since 2013. His work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe and Pitchfork, among other publications. He writes Freak Scene, a newsletter about music in Western Massachusetts and Connecticut.
