This Is the Young Sinclairs

Some bands struggle to re-create the sounds of the past, while others just seem to live in a place out of time without fretting about it. Hailing from Roanoke, Virginia, the Young Sinclairs fall comfortably into the latter category; they clearly worship at the altar of '60s folk rock, as their guitars drip with jangle while their melodies and gentle hooks ease along with languid purpose, but their music is refreshingly free of cliches, as the band seem less concerned with re-creating the details of decades-old singles as they are in conjuring a mood that speaks of a sweet aural clarity, with just a hint of acid on the edges. Samuel Lunsford, the Young Sinclairs' principal songwriter, writes tunes that recall a rainy day version of the Byrds or the Dovers without suggesting he's been raiding the Roger McGuinn or Gene Clark songbooks, and his bandmates Daniel Cundiff, Kyle Harris, Joe Lunsford, and John Thompson approach the material with just the right balance of gentleness and ferocity. The Young Sinclairs have been releasing a steady stream of singles, CR-Rs, LPs, and cassettes since they formed in 2007 (they have their own collectively owned recording studio that allows them to work when their muse happens by), and the British label Ample Play has collected 15 tunes from their catalog for the collection This Is the Young Sinclairs. It speaks well of the group's consistency that the results sound like a proper album, with a flow and stylistic unity that feel like true magic from beginning to end; the chiming guitars, the addled confidence of the vocals, the breathy harmonies, and the restrained force of the rhythm section all fit together marvelously, and the songs are splendid throughout. There's plenty of fine product from the Young Sinclairs out there, but This Is the Young Sinclairs is a marvelous introduction to their work, and compelling listening for anyone who loves folk rock or jangle pop in the classic style.