Continental Drifters: Vermilion

Though the group has been in existence in one form or another for eight years, Vermilion is the first chance most listeners have had to hear the Continental Drifters. It's hard to imagine not being impressed. Mixing jangling guitars and country songs hasn't sounded like such a good idea since the heyday of The Jayhawks, and it helps that the Drifters' lineup has miles behind it. Composed of, among others, ex-dB Peter Holsapple, ex-Bangle Vicki Peterson, Dream Syndicate bassist Mark Walton, and Susan Cowsill, the New Orleans band was born in L.A. out of the ashes of the Paisley Underground scene. Originally a loose conglomeration of like-minded acquaintances with a weekly live date, the band has undergone personnel changes over the years, but Vermilion clearly sounds like the work of musicians who are comfortable playing together. Almost every member contributes songs, but the group's sound remains largely consistent throughout, a combination of the guitar renaissance of the '80s and the country renaissance of the '90s. The greatest surprise might be Cowsill: Formerly of the Cowsills, the junior-hippie family band that inspired The Partridge Family, she writes or co-writes some of Vermilion's best songs ("The Rain Song," "Drifters," "Spring Day In Ohio") and sings in a full-throated style reminiscent of Lucinda Williams. She can't be said to carry the album, however. Peterson's rollicking "Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway" and the Holsapple-penned "I Want To Learn To Waltz With You" are two other highlights, as is their charming, album-closing co-composition "Anything." The band members' careers predate the genre, but Vermilion not only fits right into the alt-country/Americana movement; it stands out within it.