You'd like to think it's the sound Mountain Men would make. Dark, eerie and pitted with primal instincts, the second long-player from San Francisco's Dame Satan is an untamed strain of earthy Americana that sounds like nothing else on the planet. With its bubbling undercurrent of blues and a wide-eyed enthusiasm for wild British psychedelia, 'Beaches & Bridges' sounds like strung-out Grateful Dead records being played backwards. As such, it's a revelation.

It takes a good half a dozen listens to begin to fully appreciate this record. Early on and you're wrestling with the frustration of a seemingly lethargic tempo, a rickety old production and vocals that seem to be yawned rather than sung. Yet with each spin these idiosyncrasies strangely become the attractions; Andrew Simmons' bourbon-flecked vocals creating a richly-evocative Americana heart to the music, whilst the loose production lends the music vitality and a really potent level of intimacy.

From there on in you are suckered into a strange and weird world where Fleet Foxes-esque harmonies, filthy hicksville banjo, synth moans and proggy feedback tussle for attention. 'Country Thief' is the album's calling card, a sprawling chunk of seven minutes worth of post-folk that sounds like Sigur Ros would if they'd been reared by bears in the deep Appalachians. Come the end you're left wide-eyed and staring at the stereo trying hard to remember where the fuck you are.

On 'Beaches & Bridges' Dame Satan have pointedly frayed the edges of traditional Americana and re-weaved them into a brave new sound. It's dark and foreboding; it'll also leave you nervous and edgy but, by god, will it make you desperate to experience the whole thing over and over again.

'Beaches and Bridges' is out now on Ghost Mansion Records.

Words: Stephen Mark Line
Official site: www.damesatan.com