Oh Tall Tree in the Ear is part the kind of ragged, sprawling travelogue you'd imagine Paul Westerberg would pen if he was a roadie for Oasis at the height of Britpop, and part barrage of hallucinatory Dylanesque visions vomited up after a boozy, blurry night spent careening down dark, moonlit North Carolina backroads.

Roman Candle - brothers Skip and Logan Matheny, plus Skip's wife Timshel - take us on an anxious journey to self, examining everything, doubting much and eventually striking an imperfect balance of self-awareness and castigation by exploring the small, telling details of sin, redemption and a return to faith in the ordinary.

Jaan Uhelszki, May 2009