Son, Ambulance

[4/5]

If you haven’t listened to many records made before, say, 1997, Son, Ambulance’s new album would definitely constitute a case of someone else’s déjà vu for you-especially “Legend Of Lizeth,” a six-minute epic that leaves its fingerprints all over several legends’ most inspired work. There’s a hint of the Kinks in their pastoral prime to Joe Knapp’s wistful vocals while the a cappella breakdown channels the late-’60s Beach Boys. And that spaced-out coda? Sounds like it was beamed in from The Dark Side Of The Moon. But like Wilco (a band they delicately mimic on “Yesterday Morning”), it’s what SA do with what they’ve borrowed. It helps that the duo stitch it up Frankenstein-style and move on to the next idea fast. Take the opening track, “A Girl In New York City,” which cuts from jaunty, samba-flavored folk to psychedelic jam-rock as Buffalo Springfield understood it to a burst of buoyant “ba-ba-ba”s in the space of two minutes. By the time the whistle-happy drum line marches in, they’ve made a solid case for ADD. (SADDLE CREEK) Ed Masley

ROCKS LIKE

Wilco’s Summerteeth

Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom

Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon