The purists who cried "Judas!" at Bringing It All Back Home must be fuming at the state of folk music these days. What Dylan began with his electric guitar on that 1965 album -- a rejection of a puritanical code of instrumental ethics that prohibited most anything besides acoustic guitars and harmonicas -- has continued to the present day. Many of this decade's most successful indie acts have buttressed their folk influences with a wide variety of instrumental eclecticism -- Sufjan Stevens with his layered double-reed obbligatos, Joanna Newsom with her bombastic, Van Dyke Park-assisted orchestrations and too many more to mention. Already having established herself as a kind of Judee Sill for the 21st century, Laura Veirs now releases an album, Saltbreakers, with the musical diversity we've come to expect from indie folkies. There are also enough catchy melodies and smart lyrics to warrant a listen from any fan of mellow yet varied hipster adult contemporary.
Many listeners know Veirs best from her guest vocal on fellow Pacific North-westerners The Decemberists' "Yankee Bayonet," but she establishes herself as a significant artist in her own right on Saltbreakers. "Pink Light," the opening track, blends her subtle guitar picking with a repeated hand-clap rhythm and elegant synth line, but still leaves room for her smooth vocals to take center stage. With an opening track this strong and epitomical, Saltbreakers is already off to a compelling start.
"To the Country," another highlight, could be rightly described as Sufjan-cribbing. Its intricately layered acoustic instrumentation and small-choir accompaniment give it the flavor of a Michigan outtake. Though the song borders on the derivative, she certainly picked an apt model, considering the sustained level of musical variety she strives for throughout the album.
Veirs, however, does break the indie-folk mold once, and this song too fails to disappoint. "Phantom Mountain" lets loose with a driving rock beat and distorted guitars which, surprisingly, jive with her smooth and unaffected vocals equally well.
The musical highlight of Saltbreakers, however, is the inspired title track. The song rests on a borderline-funky groove and features an intriguingly goofy call-and-response chorus. Handclaps again make a notable appearance, tying all the disparate elements together into one groovy and catchy whole.
Saltbreakers is, truth be told, no masterpiece. The simple piano ballad that serves as the penultimate track, "Black Butterfly," is remarkably dull, especially compared to the multifarious offerings of the rest of the album. The closing track, "Wrecking," is a little better, but fails to wrap up the album in a compelling way. Still, 10 strong tracks out of 12 is an impressive batting-average, particularly when so many songs are certifiable homeruns. Saltbreakers establishes Veirs as a dauntingly talented artist in the increasingly densely populated indie-folk arena and one any conscientious listener should look out for in the future.
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