Cotton Jones

Maryland-based duo Cotton Jones follow up the dusty, back porch psychedelia of their 2008 debut, Paranoid Cocoon, with another entrancing collection of rainy day stoner music. Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw (originally of folk pop outfit Page France) team up in this latest incarnation to create a moodier brand of indie folk. With rattle-y percussion, touches of vintage organ and drawling vocals lightly blanketed in fuzz and reverb, the band's lo-fi sound keeps the listener at arm's length. But the twinkling melodies of "Sail of the Silver Morning" and "Somehow To Keep It Going" are captivating despite the cavernous spaces they inhabit. Loose, jammy numbers like "Soft Mountain Shake" and "Goethe Nayburs" rely heavily on atmosphere over melody for their impact. But that atmosphere ― thick enough to stand a spoon up in ― is enough to carry the album all the way through to its delightfully woozy finale.