A stunning first album from Portland, Oregon's Dearest, Crown, on which they combine their ragged down-to-earth but ethereal music with some of the finest, most evocative lyrics I've encountered for some time now. Musically reminiscent of Matt Pond PA, Califone and Green-/Out Of Time-era R.E.M., Dearest, Crown's drum-less campfire sound may be too much for some listeners, but proves to be a subversive approach to songs that would have fallen apart had they been treated otherwise. Imagine Lullaby For the Working Class doing Tom Petty songs and you may understand what I'm going on about.

Songs about man's relative place in the history of time and of human littleness may not be too hip by anyone's standards, but that's just what you'll get on here. It could all have been too sanctimonious for words, but it's not -- Dearest, Crown sing about loss and pain without resorting to clichés and high drama, instead focusing on coming to terms with natural endings and limitations. It's beautifully done on an unassuming album that may take a few listens before it sits comfortably with you, but that is well worth the effort.

Another Portland band, this time a quartet of folk/math rockers called Dearest, Crown. There is no drummer in this band but I didn't realize it until I read that in their biography. Their songs are fully fleshed out with guitars, violin, banjo, piano, trumpet, mandolin, cello, and accordion in a joyful blend of balladry and folk pop. I don't really know who to compare them to; they don't sound like anyone I can think of straight off the top of my head. Elements of Go-Betweens, maybe, and a hint of Prefab Sprout, possibly, and even Toad the Wet Sprocket. It could also fit in with the Elephant 6 collective. "Stand up, meadows filled with buttercups, turbines spinning wildly as the water fills up..." are the lyrics to the bright and ebullient title track. The lyrics are deft and intricate, a natural poet's facility with sounds. The second track, "Precisely Bittersweet," is a group harmony song lead by mandolin. It's a folk ballad that David Crosby would have been pleased to write. Despite all of the classic instruments, Dearest, Crown is not a throwback band trying to recreate a bygone sound. They have taken their prodigious musical talents and songwriting skills and crafted an inspired collection of timeless songs. The two part vocal harmony of "Windshield" weaves two complementary melodies into a blissful union, then an acoustic guitar takes you to the final three part vocal finale. A band in 2002 has to know that musicianship and songcraft are no longer valued commodities, and this could understandably cause them to mix their message; to pretend that folk is something hipper than it is. For instance, they aren't trying to be the return of Camper Van Beethoven. Dearest, Crown deliver the goods without any second guessing and without tempering their sound to appear cool. "Alluvial Fans" is an instrumental waltz with acoustic guitar and violin, folks! Take a chance on this record. This is effortlessly melodic folk music: tuneful, smart, and soothing.

Portland Oregon area act Dearest, Crown craft songs that are simultaneously bitter and delightful gems of harmonious Americana. Taking a sound similar to early REM or Angelo Badliametti's score work for The Straight Story, and fusing it with cosmic mysticism akin to recent work from The Flaming Lips, on their newest record A Single Star, Bigger than the Universe makes Dearest, Crown a rewarding band ready for discovery.

The vocal themes throughout A Single Star, Bigger than the Universe are immediately affecting, perhaps disrupting a tightly clenched sense of comfort within, but keeping the listener close with the rein of layered instrumentation. "Windshield" presents melancholy in gut-wrenching, tortured terms, begging over and over: "To What Sudden End? /Why won't you let me sleep?" The final cut, "Forever Approaching Zero," is a perfect lullaby: heartfelt and tender, without being timid. Dearest, Crown turns the practice of songwriting into the uncommon pursuit of their audience's most guarded inclination on love and trust.

A Single Star, Bigger than the Universe is like a country stream, once rushing then meandering at a gentlemanly pace, stopping to eddy, open to sanguine contemplation.

Hailing from Portland, OR, this minus-drums quartet (featuring memebers of the defunct mid-90's band Harvester), Dearest, Crown are a pleasant alternative answer to the quirkiness that is Neutral Milk Hotel and the Verlaines, except with more of a Rex campfire folk twist. Although at first listen their approach might sound traditional, it is their lyrical/storytelling approach that is like a vaguely twisted yet comically truthful psychological breakdown of human relationships that is the pull in, somewhat like an extremely charming but watered down version of Ween's 12 Country Golden Greats, except conceived by a bluegrass-loving psychologist bent on futility and teasing.

An additional feature of this album is the perfectly balanced organic analog recording by Larry Crane, who makes the sound so clean that you almost have to be careful when listening to it because it's like the cleanest sheet of plate glass that you don't see and walk into by mistake.

"...It can be a bit much over the course of an album, but it's also a refreshing change of pace to actually be challenged to fire up one's neurons now and then (and make sure they still work after all that headbanging). The absence of a rhythm section becomes apparent after awhile, though it's never exactly missed; its absence lends the album an overall relaxing feel. The vocalists' unconventional delivery tends toward the nasal or the conversational; they're certainly not traditional balladeers. Obviously, you have to be in a certain mood to listen to A Single Star, and be relatively awake and alert to fully appreciate the intricacies of its music and lyrics, but it's a rewarding jaunt if you're willing to take it."

Calling to mind favorites such as Neutral Milk Hotel, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, and the Verlaines, this heartfelt culmination of Americana folk is rather like Chinese food: while it makes the simple delicious and doesn't aim to be glamorous, it's surprisingly filling, yet in less than an hour, you want more! This man knows how to marinate his music in the richness of Americana while expanding the palate through the horizons of folk know-how.

This album is like an honest, kind, homely country girl. You wouldn’t want to show it off to your friends, or take it to a party, but it seems like it would be there to comfort you when you need it, and you and it could grow to be affectionate.

Dearest, Crown is a folksy, Portland-based quartet that uses an acoustic guitar, banjo, cello, bass, etc., to get a full sound without drums. They claim to sound like Neutral Milk Hotel, but that’s not right at all – try The Flaming Lips if they were a folk band without a drummer. The vocals are an acquired taste. They remind me a bit of The Bogmen, or maybe Michael Stipe, but mostly just a hippy guy with a beard who might be interested in science fiction, or those historical re-creation clubs. Especially when these guys harmonize, I just see a circle of bearded hippy guys holding hands and singing their hearts out. I might be wrong, in fact, now that I look at their picture, I am wrong, but whatever.

The instrumental tracks, "Alluvial Fans" and "Queen of Mud Puddles", show off the group’s musical talent. My favorites are the more dramatic songs, "Windshield", "She Will Consider", and the finale, "Forever Approaching Zero." That last one is a highlight in part because the vocals are restrained a bit and it has an electric guitar kick at the end. For folk, this isn't so bad.

Portland, Oregon's Dearest Crown is quite an eclectic band that focuses its efforts on simple melodies with traditional acoustic instrumentation. The first time I heard their recordings, I was immediately reminded of early- to mid-period Lullaby for the Working Class in the sense that they carry the rustic sound very well. This includes such unique instruments as violins, banjos, trumpets, mandolins, cellos, and accordions in addition to all the usual instruments we've come to expect with the exception of drums and percussion.

The only fault I have with Dearest Crown is with the main vocalist. The voice is nasally and off-kilter enough to have some people really enjoying it, while others, like myself, liken it to the equivalent of nails scratching on a blackboard. However, keeping things on a positive note, I'll disregard all vocals and focus on the interesting instrumentation the quartet encompasses.

I found a couple of tracks appealing on the record in terms of the developed melodies. "Windshield" features a really wonderful acoustic guitar part in addition to violins in the background. Again, I'm reminded of Lullaby for the Working Class material, which isn't a bad thing at all since I really enjoyed that group. In fact the vocals start to grown on you after awhile and actually produce a good melody. "Owl of Minerva" has a very countryish feel to it but features lightly strummed banjos and melodic acoustic guitars. "Forever Approaching Zero" is the standout track on the record, which recalls the more melancholic material of Red House Painters.

Overall, I've found that the record has its ups and downs. While I don't feel passionate about any track in particular, the album is nice enough to have in the background while lying outside drinking lemonade. If you enjoy saddened acoustic rock with heavy country overtones, then you might want to try Dearest Crown on for size.

"Portland Oregon's Dearest, Crown is a drummerless quartet that mixes simple melodies with bowed, fretted, and wind instrumentation." Or so says the press release which does its job and makes you sit up and listen for the potential distinctiveness alone. As it turns out, the sound of Dearest Crown isn’t quite the groundbreaking pivotal clamour you expect, but it is unique enough and more importantly infused with enough quality to remove any nagging doubts. Sounding like a more roots tinged Mercury Rev or Flaming Lips (there’s even echoes of REM’s earlier less produced sound), the band steer their way through some breathtakingly arranged songs instrumentally (so much so you sometimes just want the vocals to stop) and and none more so than the dazzling "She Will Consider" which is every bit as good as anything the Jayhawks have done in recent years.

Pretty, uplifting, folksy collection of songs from the quartet of Sean Harrasser, Todd Steinberg, Ryan Martin and Leif Webb. The arrangements are entirely without percussion, relying instead the nearly palpable rhythm of the songs themselves to keep time. The instrumentation is without fault here, combining some amazing banjo work with acoustic guitars, cellos, accordions, and a little piano to create something genuine and pure that falls between bluegrass and old-timey folk music-and then, with the layers of vocal harmonies piled on top of that, makes for music that sounds most at home out in the open, under a night sky.

"Having recently released its debut album, A Single Star, Bigger Than the Universe, Dearest, Crown's aspirations are high. The band has carved an interesting place for itself within the indie cosmos: It has no drummer, and includes a few wind and bluegrass instruments to create a symphonic atmosphere for a slew of deeply pensive songs..."

Dearest, Crown possesses one of the more annoying commas in music today, but the drumless four-piece's sweet indie-folk laments make punctuation crimes forgivable.

For those of you, much like me, desperately wishing Neutral Milk Hotel would get back together...I say don't despair. Some fantastic bands are taking up the flag and marching on in, around and over NMH's fantastic footsteps. Bands like Troubled Hubble, Friends of Lizzy, Hudson Bell and others are giving NMH fans something to look forward to. And there's another band waiting to be rallied around, their discs coveted, their name whispered in awe. That band is Dearest, Crown.

There aren't too many songs that can make me just stop dead in my tracks. Songs that are so powerful I'll play them over and over again. "Windshield" the third track on this 2002 release, had me spellbound from the get go. The vocals aren't perfect, but they are compelling, intoxicating and enveloping. You want to sink into the embrace of this song. Other tracks throughout the album elicit the same feeling. I had to force myself to pick just two tracks to list as favorites...else I'd have listed all twelve.

Musically, lyrically, vocally...this disc has all of the components that make a great record.With a mixture of the expected instruments - guitar and bass, and the unexpected - banjo, mandolin, trumpet, cello and a decided lack of percussion, the sounds made are majestic and marvelous. All four of the musicians share vocal responsibility and the mixture of voices is just as alluring as the mixture of instruments. The lyrics are incredibly intelligent, and make some of the best use of dictionary requisite terms you'll find anywhere on an album.

This isn't perfection...this hasn't been overdubbed and engineered to death. This is real music, perfect in its imperfection, in its realism. These are real people, letting you see inside them. This is a gift. Return the favor and buy the disc.

"...This is one of the most unusual pieces of music to fall in my lap in recent times. I still, after two weeks of concentrated listening, haven’t decided quite what to make of it..." - 1.5 stars!