Album Review: With Trampled By Turtles by Alan Sparhawk

Whatever you expected the guitarist, singer and songwriter renowned for gnarly electric guitar expeditions to do next, a banjo-flecked album sprinkled with warm communal harmonies with a bluegrass group (albeit a decidedly hip one in a scene infused with a fondness for olden times traditions) probably didn't rank very high on the list of probabilities. Despite its unexpected predominantly acoustic textures and grass-stained rootsy terrains, With Trampled by Turtles should be welcomed as a triumphant return to more standard service for Sparhawk. With hindsight, it's easy to see last year's White Roses, My God as a necessarily inarticulate musical outpouring of grief, trauma and loss after the tragic death in 2022 of Low's drummer and singer Mimi Parker, Sparhawk's partner in life and music for three decades.

Full Review >>