The Sadies - Darker Circles

The Sadies are akin to the best mixologists, creating the most interesting and potent musical concoctions from the purest organic ingredients -- in this particular case, 60's vintage country rock, astral psychedelica, 80 proof Nashville barroom twang, West Coast surfer vibrato and raggedy punk aesthetic. You could easily spend an entire evening trying to dissect and analyze the various influences that crop up on a Sadies album (or even within the same song) but to get caught up in the reflections is to miss the distinctive and completely original work that hangs in front of you. Maybe if the Toronto quartet's output was a little less reckless, slightly less raucous and a tad more predictable it would be easier to ignore -- but the growing collection of inspired and inspiring music from frontmen Dallas and Travis (perfect, yes?) Good and The Sadies make each album essential listening.

The new Darker Circles, arriving May 18 (Yep Roc), is again produced by Gary Louris, the former Jayhawk-er who handled the band's 2007 album New Seasons. The Good brothers along with drummer Mike Belitsky and bassist Sean Dean, have been known for their impressive instrumental skills, most notably as Neko Case's go-to backing band for her Tigers Have Spoken LP. But with New Seasons and now Darker Circles, the songwriting continues to step up and purely instrumental tracks such as the majestic stylistic mashup "Ten More Songs" (Neil Young meets "Tommy" at an Italian rodeo?) that closes the album become fewer and farther between. Circles is not a dramatic change in sound and style but more of a mature refinement that comes at the hands of masters. Highly recommended.

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The Sadies - "Cut Corners" (from the album Darker Circles)

The Sadies - "Ten More Songs" (from the album Darker Circles)