Your Sister's Hand

The reissue of David Novick’s self-titled home-recorded debut solo album has led to further interest in the San Francisco Water Cooler guitarist’s private works. Away from the band's psychedelic freakouts, Novick charms with modest but dexterous guitar work that’s reminiscent of John Fahey’s Takoma Records output in the '60s and ‘70s. This follow-up album was said to be recorded in a room in San Francisco, and its naturalistic sound is both soothing and mystical. The songs often work as meditative pieces, while the electricity running through “Last Moon” captures an alluring dissonance that’s subtle but inspired. “Ash,” the title track, and the extended closer, “Memory,” sound like they’re from a lost campfire tape of young, earnest hippies singing for no one but themselves. The conventional folk-rock of “Carry Home the Light,” the less conventional “Beneath the Line,” and the further full-band bursts of “Inside the Eye” cling closer to Novick’s psychedelic interests.