When the eponymous debut Beachwood Sparks record hit in 2000, it was a bolt out of the blue. As if the so-called alt.country scene that sprang up in the mid-90s need never have happened, it drew on the cosmic country of a more sun-scorched psychedelic age - legendary records like The Byrds' Notorious Byrd Bros, Flying Burrito Brothers' Gilded Palace of Sin and The Grateful Dead's American Beauty - and brought to it the jangle-pop sensibilities of a group raised on Echo & The Bunnymen and The Clean.

In the twenty years since it was originally released on Sub Pop/Bomp!, Beachwood Sparks has matured with its audience to the degree that it has joined those records in the Cosmic American Music canon, like the "Singing Butterfly" and "Sleeping Butterfly" that flutter liltingly through its tracklist, quietly, with neither fanfare nor hubris. Now back in print, in a limited run, thanks to bassist Brent Rademaker's Curation Records, the record is back to turn on a whole new generation of cosmic cowboys - and with seven previously unheard demos, outtakes and alternative tracks, the sheer joyfulness of which will be irresistible to long-time fans of the band, too.

Utterly essential release by the single most positive-sounding rock band of the 21st Century to date-- Nick Mitchell Maiato