Nothing sucks worse than when a great band calls it a day, and the break-up of the Cherry Valence represented another band day called way too soon. The only saving grace in this case is the ascendance of Birds of Avalon, featuring former CV guitarists Cheetie Kumar and Paul Siler. On this debut album, the Mitch Easter co-produced Bazaar Bazaar, BOA shudders and roars with the acid-burnt psychedelic prog/blues bluster of the '60s shot through with contemporary punk/pop energy and invention. Make no mistake, this isn't a group of mere retro revivalists, dabbling in sounds gone by for its own sake. Birds of Avalon is a powerful interpreter of an era its members clearly love, filtering that love and influence through a distinctly defined here-and-now filter that results in an album that crackles with pop electricity and mesmerizes with a raw prog/blues intensity.
-Brian Baker