NICKEL CREEK
This Side (Sugar Hill)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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After solo albums by guitarist Sean Watkins and mandolinist Chris Thile (hey, when does Sara get hers?), Nickel Creek is back, this time as a trio with a couple hired gun bassists. Alison Krauss, who produced their self-titled debut, is back in the producer's chair, as well, and as someone who has broadened her sound since her fiddle contest days she's well prepared to guide the young trio through the inevitable barrage of bickering from the bluegrass traditionalists.

While they're still acoustic, and there's still a bluegrass flavor to their style, there's just no getting around the fact that this is a pop album. Whether it's the covers (ranging from Pavement's "Spit On A Stranger" to folkie Carrie Newcomer's "I Should've Known Better") or the original contributions from Thile and Sean Watkins, this is music designed to reach past the bluegrass market, and even beyond the wider country market, and get this group a piece of the mainstream attention that their talents well deserve. Sara Watkins hasn't contributed a song to the set, but her fiddle and beautiful vocals are an indispensable part of the Nickel Creek formula, in which three parts brilliance are stirred to create an original and invariably appealing product.

A new standard for acoustic pop has been set. It'll be fun watching the music world try to catch up.

Track List:

Smoothie Song * Spit On A Stranger * Speak * Hanging On A Thread * I Should've Known Better * This Side * Green And Gray * House Carpenter * Beauty And The Mess * Sabra Girl * Young * Brand New Sidewalk

© 2002 - Shaun Dale