Who would have thought a slang term used by carpenters could ever sound like this? Okie Rosette (apparently "a badly-hammered nail") is the name for Felix Costanza's new project following the "parking" up of his Granfaloon Bus. This monumental cast of 14 players, not including the chap on the decks, all have their part to play in compiling the intricate tapestry of sounds and samples. “The place smells like bacon and cologne, intruders leave with aroma clinging to their clothes.” These are the ‘Grand Opening’ lines of the album and it gives an immediate insight into the rich, hearty language that weaves it’s way through the music, peaking imaginations as it goes, conjuring images and compiling a solid base for the band from which to launch their melodic folk music from. The various instruments all play their parts, be they the initial percussive shakes and wire-brushed snare sweeps, the soaring violins and e-bow guitars or the classic tinkled ivories of a piano. And there amidst it all is Felix Costanza’s steady, percussive, world-weary style, evoking the gentility of Neil Young’s delivery or the pointed certainty of Lou Reed‘s. There are tracks that fall short of the standard set by the gaiety of ’Grand Opening’ or the bustling brashness of ’Candy Lane’. The stuttering rhythm and double-vocal effect on ’Just Passing Through The Spokes’ is merely awkward and draws to an ineffectual close, whilst the sluggish layers of tuneless distortion within ‘Rental Pond’ will have you rocking and hugging your knees. Then there’s the 34 seconds of ‘The Whistle’ or the 55 of ‘Confetti’; tracks which seem like unrealised ideas left to rot, incomplete. Rachel Stevenson’s husky vocal makes a welcome appearance on ‘My Mathematician’ to add an interesting twist although she is awfully loud in the mix; it’s quite disconcerting having a disembodied voice whispering so close to your ear - perhaps that’s why she has been dubbed “The Siren”. ‘Ordeal By Trial’, however, delves deeper and unearths a little twinge of jazz and country. It’s proof that the band haven’t just walked into a studio and sunk themselves into a barrel of bourbon. It’s a shame that there are parts of the album that sound like this may have been the case. Having started so brightly, it’s alarming to witness it all lose momentum so rapidly. However, there’s enough that’s oddly fascinating about Okie Rosette’s Americana-bolstered folk to keep you plugging away at it. 52%Okie Rosette on Myspace