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Continental Drifters - Vermilion (1998)

Track listing:
  1. The Rain Song 3:54
  2. Drifters 4:48
  3. Way of the World 4:28
  4. Don't do what I did 2:51
  5. Spring Day in Ohio 3:51
  6. Watermark 3:20
  7. I Want to Learn to Waltz with 4:22
  8. Meet Me In The Middle 3:57
  9. Heart Home 4:30
  10. Darlin Darlin 4:22
  11. Christopher Columbus Transcont 3:37
  12. Who We Are, Where We Live 5:27
  13. Daddy Just Wants It To Rain 7:44
  14. Anything 3:07

Notes

Call them an alternative country supergroup — Peter Holsapple (The dBs), Vicki Peterson (The Bangles), and Susan Cowsill (The Cowsills) are the most recognizable names, but the other band members have spent time in groups as varied as Dream Syndicate, the Bluerunners and the Steve Wynn Band. Maybe that doesn't sound much like an alternative country pedigree, but that's the best currently available descriptor for the sound made by the Contental Drifters. That sound is not, shall we say, overproduced. In fact, it's downright messy at times, with acoustic and electric guitars splayed out around indistinct bass and clattering drums and the occasional mandolin and rubboard. The vocals (shared mostly by Holsapple and Cowsill) aren't recorded that cleanly, either. But the raw-edged charm of "Heart, Home" and "Way of the World" wouldn't have benefitted from better production. Holsapple's rocking "Don't Do What I Did" makes even better use of the crowded, messy mix. Very nice.