ANIMAL LIBERATION ORCHESTRA
Fly Between Falls (Lagmusic Records)
Reviewed by Eric Saeger

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The equivalent of Jack Johnson's collective flip-side, ALO's worry-deficient sunshine-folk doesn't aim for the same Harry Nilsson eccentricities as their platinum-selling college buddy (Johnson contributes a vocal to "Girl I Wanna Lay You Down") but something even more unabashedly innocent - Zach Gill's voice is Burl Ives sans nasality but with all the heart, with some Bob Seeger in places (most notably "Waiting for Jaden", which also contains a prolonged burst of trip-sonic noise). Guitarist Dan Lebowitz contributes a perpetual current of Jerry-meandering to the almost Zappa-like whims of the non-toxic jazz and feel-good bluegrass, upping his amp's volume past 4 only on the prog-length workouts - you'll want your favorite espresso (or hash bowl) around for this stuff.

© 2005 - Eric Saeger