A curious album, almost chamber Americana in places, and one that manages to be long on both charm and substance. The brainchild of New York multi-instrumentalist and composer, John Kruth, the ensemble calls on some pretty heavy musical hitters, artists whose range of experience covers pretty much everything in music. There’s no shortage of great melodies (just listen to the slinky “My Cousin The Spy” for an example), all performed with panache and plenty of humour, drawing on influences not only from the US but all across the world.

“Punko” really drives full tilt, find a place where a car chase soundtrack meets surf movie, while “A Pair Of Boleros” finds Ravel going cheek to cheek with “Beck’s Bolero,” which is as unusual as it sounds, yet…it works in fine style.

A Strange Day In June is a mixture of outstanding talents with some inventive writing that’s never less that satisfying and sometimes startling in its beauty, as on “A Butterfly At 80,” with the title track standing as a tour-de-force centrepiece.

For all that, this is probably an album that will fall between the cracks commercially, simply because it doesn’t neatly fit anywhere. That's a shame, because it’s worth so much more.

Find the artist online.

Further listening:
Strandline - Inland
Snowapple - Wrong Feet
TriBeCaStan - New Deli

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