Mark W. Lennon wrote some songs and got his wife Courtney and other New York musicians to record them. Simple enough, right?

The Bear and the Bison The Bear and the Bison (self-released)

The tricky thing about "roots" music is that there are a lot of tangled influences. The "americana" genre is an unholy amalgamation of semi-related sounds. What does western swing have to do with Irish-descended Appalachian folk? Prolly more than most know, of course, but the interpolation of those sounds can be jarring at first.

Lennon sings more like a reformed punker than a singer-songwriter, which tosses yet another influence into the hopper. He is partial to fiddle and acoustic instruments generally (pedal steel excepted), but those instruments are often taking on lines more often associated with their electric cousins. And sometimes he simply plugs in. After all that is swept up into a song, however, it pours as smoothly as ten-year-old bourbon.

Not traditional anything, least of all in the musical writing, but that just serves to drive the energy of this album. Rounding one corner leads to yet another arresting composition. A casual listener will simply vibe with the great songs. A more careful inspection leads to an even greater connection. A jumble of wonderful.

Jon Worley