Shearwater - Jet Plane and Oxbow: a band finally gaining altitude

There have been many times over the course of their 16-year run when Shearwater have found themselves on the cusp of a breakthrough.

Albums such as 2006's Palo Santo and 2010's The Golden Archipelago came bundled with moody ideas and dark, daring melodies, yet the Austin, Texas band's big close-up never quite happened.

Jet Plane and Oxbow sounds like an album with a move to the premier league in mind, as Jonathan Meiburg and colleagues head for the furthest horizon.

There are elements here which Shearwater had previously tried out for size, but the full-blooded riffs, glorious grooves and harmonic highs on tracks such as the giddy Prime and the anthemic Radio Silence come highly charged and more focused than on previous outings.

The sound of a band moving up to the next level with great pizzazz.

[ shearwatermusic.com ]