Assembly of Dust

Tag : Dyed Flannel
With the term "jam band" incorporating everything from blues tobluegrass these days, it's an overused handle that barely describesall the disparate bands lumped within its parameters. Still,Assembly of Dust has found its fit there, mostly due to itsfreewheeling dexterity, a sense of retro revival, and a folksypopulist approach accrued through playing the festival circuit.There is also a perception that lingers from singer/guitarist ReidGenaur's earlier outfit, Stranefolk, which had heavy instrumentalambitions — the common element in the jam-band template.However on AOD's sophomore set, the appropriately titled Recollection , there may be fewer tendencies to typecast. With its sepia-tonearrangements, it carries the echo of Americana, specifically theSixties sounds of the Grateful Dead's Workingman's Dead and American Beauty . The jubilant album opener, "Grand Design," and its closer, agospel-tinged ballad called "Walking on Water," wear as comfortablyas an old flannel shirt or a tie-dyed T. Listening to the sprytwang on "Truck Farm," the down-home demeanor of "The Honest Hour,"and the funky refrains of "Zero to the Skin" and "Whistle Clock"should be enough to keep the hippies happy ... or anyone, for thatmatter, who simply enjoys a groove.