High Uinta High

With High Uinta High, Jeremy Chatelain, the bassist for Jets to Brazil, has created a genuine and resonant alt-country album on par with the work of Beachwood Sparks, Wilco, and Whiskeytown. That is saying a lot for a solo debut, and perhaps even more surprising is the fact that this set of twangy, country-tinged rock tunes was put together by a post-punk all-star lineup as opposed to a group of roots rockers. Chatelain recruited his friends to record the album and appearances are made not only by his Jets to Brazil bandmates, but also Cashe Tolman of Rival Schools, Nick Macri of Euphone, Theo Kogan of the Lunachicks, and Chris Traynor of Helmet and Orange 9mm. The record opens with an acoustic guitar and piano hammering out the old-school folk of "Could Be the Moon" and from there it's on to rambling Beachwood Sparks jangles ("St. Louis"), bluesy grooves ("Butterfly"), and Byrds-worthy pop ("Through My Window"). The record culminates with the seven-minute-long "Hollow Sidewalks," a shimmering, nostalgic journey that, like the album as a whole, is honest, expansive, and rings true.