Anyone who hadn’t
written Chris Hillman off by 1987 was delusional; the guy had by that point largely
phoned in the last 15 somnolent years. So it’s startling to hear him spring
back to life on this. The basic idea of the Desert Rose Band is Bakersfield
classicism run though the glossy lens of 80s pop-country, and dubiousness of
that formula notwithstanding, they nail it. Hillman writes vibrant originals
for the first time in ages, and classic chestnuts like “Ashes of Love” are
polished until they fit seamlessly alongside whatever Randy Travis singles were
hot that year (recovering and overhauling Hillman’s Byrds gem “Time Between” is
a particularly nifty trick). The reverence of the early Burrito Bros. is
nowhere to be found—this group is out for hits, not some fetishized notion of authenticity—but that smiling shamelessness is exactly why it works.
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