From Liberty Street

by 
AlbumMar 20 / 202014 songs, 39m 50s73%
Americana Close Harmony

“This record is about as close to the sound of home as you can get,” says Mapache’s Sam Blasucci. “We recorded it with a bunch of our friends in the house where we were living in a neighborhood that we loved. It’s a family vibe through and through.” It made perfect sense, then, for Mapache to name their new album in honor the place at the heart of it all: Liberty Street. Produced by longtime collaborator Dan Horne (Cass McCombs, Allah-Lahs), From Liberty Street captures Mapache at their finest, weaving airtight harmonies around stripped-down, organic arrangements that blur the lines between past and present, between retro and modern, between traditional folk and cosmic country. The songs here draw on everything from Mexican boleros and Hawaiian-steeped surf to Bakersfield twang and lonesome cowboy campfire tunes, and Blasucci and his musical partner, Clay Finch, deliver them with the kind of easygoing charm and natural intuition usually reserved for blood brothers or married couples. It’s an instantly engaging chemistry they share, a captivating musical bond that mirrors the comfort, closeness, and camaraderie of the album’s homespun roots.

Sam Blasucci and Clay Finch are Mapache, a charismatic close harmony duo whose breezy West Coast folk songs traverse country rock, light psychedelia, cowboy music, and even Mexican traditions.

7 / 10