There aren't a lot of things
Dave Alvin
hasn't done in a musical career that's spanned six decades, but he was able to scratch one item off his list in 2020 with the first album from his group
the Third Mind
. For the first time,
Alvin
, one of America's great songwriters, threw caution to the wind and assembled an improvisational ensemble who strolled into a studio and performed a set of songs with no prior rehearsal. If there was any cheating, it came from most of the tracks being covers, giving the musicians some guidelines of where to start and finish while still leaving lots of room for musical wanderlust. The result was a set of jams that sounds smart, adventurous, and dynamic without losing the plot or sinking into aimless noodling.
and his accomplices were clearly happy enough with the results that they chose to repeat the experiment on 2023's
The Third Mind 2
. As on the first album,
is joined by
Jesse Sykes
on vocals and acoustic guitar,
David Immerglück
on guitar and keys,
Victor Krummenacher
on bass, and
Michael Jerome
on drums, and the interplay between the musicians feels more intimate and intuitive the second time around. These gifted players have a clearer idea of what to expect from their bandmates without robbing the performances of their sense of mystery, and even more than on the debut album, this shows
reaching new heights as a guitarist. The wail and growl he draws from his guitar has always been impressive, but here he gives himself greater license to move outside his comfort zone, and the results are rewarding, especially with
Immerglück
as a strong musical foil who gives
worthy support while subtly bringing plenty of color and texture at the same time.
Krummenacher
and
Jerome
keep the music grounded even as they add their own details to the picture, and
Sykes
' phrasing is every bit as personal and deeply felt as anything on these six songs. While the five covers all date back to the '60s, drawn from the songbooks of the likes of the
Electric Flag
,
Fred Neil
, and
Gene Clark
, the interpretations suggest a kind of spiritual psychedelia that trades Day-Glo cliches for a new kind of electric music for the mind and body. On their first album,
sounded like that modern rarity, a jam band with no audible hippie affectations;
shows they're digging even deeper into a rich, flavorful groove of their own. Not many people can get away with not rehearsing, but this album proves there are musicians good enough to get away without it, and even make it exciting. ~ Mark Deming