Los Angeles-based psych-folk duo, Eric "Cashew" Harding and Patrick Cleary, paint evocative musical landscapes with their excellent four-song debut EP, Husbands Vol. 1. Experienced singer-songwriters given local exposure before joining forces, Harding fronted mesmerizing folk choir, Eagle Winged Palace, and unheralded hard rockers, The Prix, whose soulfully nostalgic hallucinogen, "It's All In the Way You Trip," gained underground acceptance. Meanwhile, Cleary was a strict disciple of Byrds co-founder Gene Clark, leading the Americana-based outfit, The Digs, as well as prog-leaning Silver Phial.
On Husbands Vol. 1 (the titular pun concerns the dynamic duo's marital status), Cashew & Cleary provide engagingly easy-going elegance for a terse set of sparkling vignettes unveiling pastoral beauty alongside narcotic Paisley Underground whimsicality. Effectively utilizing a variety of instruments to color the oft-times poignant acoustical melodicism and wily forays into baroque rock, C & C create some of the most tuneful West Coast utopian splendor. And the mystical marijuana imagery only enhances the overall serenity.
Looking back at simpler times (or a more innocent age), euphoric opener "Sha La La (Fade Away)" features Harding's exaggeratedly coarse and gruffly hoarse baritone hush (inspired by "spaced-out cowboy" composer, Lee Hazelwood). Drifting into a pensive daydream, he recalls a certain place in the not-too-distant past when an overseas jaunt made the heart grow fonder, emoting contemplative reverie with they lyrics, "New York City via Leone, Spain/ I imagine your flying on a plane/ And I sit, stoned, with a smile."
Cleary seems equally affected by the stony ether on the charming "When Smiling CC Frowns," a sweetly harmonic melodrama uniting the Byrds-like Rickenbacker six-string jangle, Left Banke's elliptical orchestrations and Love's clandestine exotica while plying Darryl Brown's violin glissando to the overall delicate '60s-inspired sentimentalism. Its kaleidoscopic video (watch below) mixes cartoons, sketches and photos while being graced by bluntly-placed marijuana leafs and paraphernalia.
The duo go slightly South of the Border for their final two tracks. An extravagant whirlwind paced by bleating Mexicali horns, fastidious guitar strumming and loudly energized drums, siren-like trembler "Quiet Desperate Lonely Kind of Morning" breaks out a free-form trumpet stanza to fortify this surrealistic journey through a mysteriously foreboding spaghetti Western. On the closing ranchero waltz, "I'm An Illusion," guest Robert Datta's flatulent tuba spurts out a one-note rhythmic pulse for its tender acoustic guitar shimmer and mild string accompaniment.
Perfect for a midsummer's afternoon buzz alongside Brewer & Shipley's carefree hippie paean "One Toke Over the Line," Cashew & Cleary's premiere offering gives a fertile snapshot of their stimulating songcraft and amiable eclecticism.
