Send "Crooked Still " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Crooked Still’s last record, Still Crooked, opened with “Undone in Sorrow”, a tune every bit as dark and mournful as its title suggests. This time around, opener “Sometimes in This Country” opens the proceedings with considerably less grimness. Wistfulness is still there to be sure, but the bleakness has been ameliorated somewhat. That, in a nutshell, sums up this latest excellent offering from a band that deserves much more recognition.The Boston-based rootsy/alt-bluegrass/nu-country/Americana/neo-traditional (can we forget about the labels now?) quintet has been making complex, heartfelt music since their 2004 debut, Hop High, relying on an unorthodox lineup to keep its eyes on the acoustic prize. Corey DiMario’s bass and Tristan Clarridge’s cello underpin the staccato banjo picking of Gregory Liszt and the mournful swell of Brittany Haas’s violin. Above all this floats Aoife O’Donovan’s breathy, ethereal singing, sounding something like Espers’ Meg Baird, but somehow nicer. This new release is every bit as accomplished and engaging as their previous records, and in some ways outshines them. Although there is nothing quite as bleak as Still Crooked‘s “Low Down and Dirty” or as frenetic as “The Absentee,” the band still manages to twist heartstrings while showing impressive musical chops. “Sometimes in This Country” builds nicely from a nervous opening of plucked banjo, piling on the sounds and hitting its halfway point amid a layered profusion of banjo, fiddle, cello, bass, and, of course, O’Donovan’s ghostly vocals....full text |
| Blogcritics |
| Newer bluegrass music has become a guilty pleasure of mine over the last twelve months. Somehow bluegrass offers a combination of strings, passion, and hope amidst the banjos, fiddles, cellos, and harmonies picked, strummed, and sung to share life's rise and fall. Though Crooked Still has been around since the early 2000s, their upcoming release of Some Strange Country has been my introduction to their unique alternative spin on the bluegrass style. Aoife O'Donovan's expressive vocals are but a part of the composite that forms when this quintet purrs along on all cylinders. Joined by bassist Corey DiMario, banjo player Greg Liszt, cellist Tristan Clarridge, and fiddler Brittany Haas, the finger-picking and bow-playing layers add depth and balance that makes even the saddest moments full and emotive. To put it bluntly, these people are amazing. Some Strange Country features a mix of traditional songs, original works, and a surprising version of the Rolling Stones' "You Got the Silver." Nowhere along the album's path did the group stray from the classical roots of bluegrass or the skills that brought them where they are today - touring to support the album to be released June 1st, 2010....full text |
| Prefixmag |
| Boston-based band Crooked Still is often lumped in with the Newgrass groups putting a modern twist on bluegrass traditions, but that's too easy a categorization. Sure, many of their songs come from the trad-bluegrass/folk repertoire, but their odd lineup, incorporating cello, banjo, acoustic bass, and fiddle, twists the sources into all manner of shapes, with swatches of jazz, classical, rock, pop, and more. The group's fourth studio effort, Some Strange Country, finds them moving further along the path of redefining Americana, with guests like Tim O'Brien and Ricky Skaggs sitting in, and Crooked Still venturing into sacred-cow territory with a cover of the Stones' "You Got the Silver."...full text |
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