A Shamblejam review

Here's a link to an interesting reminiscence about Parchment's third album Shamblejam.

It's an album that enjoys a kind of cult status in the blogosphere. It's unusual name makes it easy to track down references. It was also the only album released directly in the USA by Myrrh so it ended up as an oddity in quite a few collections. Whisky Prajer's comments are typical of what you will find - the listener knew nothing about the band, or even whether Shamblejam was the band or the album, only that here was a unique sound.

I'd find it hard to review the album. As with all the band's albums, my first impressions remain vivid. The first two tracks were familiar ground. The manic mandolin on Denomination Blues, the folk harmonies and pseudo-hippy mysticism on Green Psalm. Then it entered unfamiliar territory, borrowing from other styles and yet still quintessentially Parchment, both cheerful and reflective, even melancholy all at once. Great musicianship, great production, great song-writing and great singing from Sue McClellan. Follow the link for an account that describes this album far better than I can.