Railroad Earth: Bird In A House : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

From the rubble of the obsolete Jersey fave From Good Homes springs this acoustic-and-proud ensemble fronted by singer/guitarist Todd Sheaffer. The seed for this collection of thirteen cuts was always there in FGH, but with Bird in a House, Sheaffer and Co. fully flesh out a string band jones with the loose, impromptu m.o. of a back porch pickin'. Less a trad bluegrass recording than a stylistic celebration of the roots that helped form bluegrass and folk, Bird has more in common with the Waterboys' Fisherman's Blues than it does O Brother, Where Art Thou?. The title track features some lovely Celtic-tinged instrumental interplay. And the funky "Like a Buddha," with its granola-crusted refrain ("there's a feeling running through ya/and you're smiling like a Buddha") has a modern tinge reminding that this album isn't a venture to collect fossils, so much as a cut into the marrow of a music that is as contemporarily vibrant as it is timeless.

ANDREW DANSBY
(Sept. 9, 2002)