The Moon My Saddle – Chamberlain

Chamberlain's third release on the indie label Dog House is fine, prosaic, slightly rough road rock that takes itself pretty seriously à la Counting Crows. Frankly, though, Chamberlain sounds more intelligent than half the talkative alt bands around. Sturdy guitar licks from Jonathan Cohen and firm keyboard instrumentation by Adam Rubenstein and Mark Maher prevent too much emoting from vocalist Charles "Wigg" Walker. Not that emotion is bad. The original lyrics are exceptionally well-written and there are a lot (perhaps too many) of them, twisting in Möbius turns of phrase, as in David Moore and Rubenstein's "Until the Day Burns Down": "...Who'd have thought, girl/Late last April/That we'd still be the same?" The sweet, minimal "Try for Thunder" has an understated, electric effect, and "Crush You" should effectively keep young men from allowing their girls to go to New Orleans now and forever. These guys have a melodic, Sunny Day Real Estate appeal -- good songs, well-played by nice people, and rockin'. [The CD was also released with a bonus track.] ~ Becky Byrkit, All Music Guide