As a person who still doesn’t quite know how he feels about country music, this record sure gave me some confusion. I absolutely hated it for the first few tracks, but around track six or seven I started to soften. I began to drift off to the melodies and lose myself to the music. Personally, I couldn’t quite separate the context of country from the work itself. My personal relationship to country is soured due to oversaturation, but was this album bad because I just didn’t like the genre? I’m not allowed to be mad just because it’s not a punk record. You can’t judge a fish for its time in a hundred yard dash, you know? There are county records I enjoy, but when a drum set comes into the picture my brain just automatically wants to hate it. I’m a Luddite when it comes to folk music, I suppose. But Natural Child play with heart and conviction, and you can’t call their music bad or ill conceived. There’s a gap between my tastes and what this record tries to accomplish, and I understand and respect that. Recommended if you have a soft spot for late-’70s country/rock fusion records. Grade: B-.
–Bryan Static (Burger, burgerrecords.org)