Some Kinda Happy

09/12/2006 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor

Much smarter people than me explain that America is a place where everything is up for grabs, where identity is what you make it. The past is whatever you say it is and the melting pot decides that everything eventually turns into gumbo anyhow. Southern Cali’s Weed Patch, the brainchild of songwriter Neal Weiss, mine ‘60s pop harmonies, Bakersfield country flourishes, monolithic ’70s guitar rock and the present day’s indie introspection to bring you a second album that pays allegiance to none of the above. Sure, “Technicolor” quotes from the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” with its modulating synths, cataclysmic drums and power chord thunder, but this isn’t 1971 revisited. No, this is a connect-the-dots puzzle where once completed the result is a 3-dimensional hologram where what you hear depends on your angle. Is the glass half-empty, half-full or too dirty to tell with songs such as the title track, “Crooked Mile” or “Rising Shining” where the sound implies a little of all? There are no easy answers here. You’ve got a shy kid commanding the stage, a born cynic finding hope, and--best of all--a songwriter immersed in rock’s historic glory who finds smart, clever ways around simply re-enacting a past that’s clearly entrancing.