Much of the music I hear arrives with identifiable influences. That is only to be expected; just about anybody in any creative endeavor can trace his or her approach to something that somebody thought of earlier. In the roots sounds that comprise the bulk of my listening, I expect to encounter certain influences -- foundational bluegrass outfits, assorted classic blues performers, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Townes Van Zandt, just off the top of my head -- but for reasons that remain mysterious to me I am always surprised when I hear an act that openly embraces the Simon & Garfunkel sound.

As the 1960s folk era was winding down, Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel carried forth the smoother, softer, more radio-friendly school and linked it to pop harmonies and Simon's ambitious (if sometimes pretentious) city-scaped lyrics. Appealing, stick-in-the-psychic-jukebox melodies carried the songs. I was never particularly a fan, but neither was I a scoffer. It was good pop music for its time, and it's still mostly listenable. It's just that I never think of it as influential.

That's just me, of course. The Burnt Pines are an acoustic band that to me sounds unmistakably like S&G who, I might note, go unmentioned in the promotional material; more contemporary acts are cited, but since they are largely unheard by me, I will pass on further comment. (Yeah, yeah, I stopped listening to current pop a long time ago. So kill me.) If S&G were part of your youth, however, once you recover from the shock of recognition -- it comes a few seconds into the opening cut, "Diamonds" -- you will probably do as I did: sit back and appreciate that they do it so capably. If you accept what they're doing, you will find nothing like a failed song here, and you will be exposed to several rather spectacular ones. I am especially fond of "Mother on the Mountain" and "April Child."

Nobody here fills Simon's shoes, or at least is identified as doing so. The songs, all originals, are credited to the band, which apparently is a trio augmented by some guys in the studio. It says here that the band was conceived in Lisbon when Denmark-born, Massachusetts-dwelling Kris Skovmand met some Portuguese musicians, most notably pianist Miguel Sa Pessoa. It was a serendipitous encounter obviously even if, as events would prove, not an auspicious moment in the annals of world health to start a band, much less one peopled by performers from two continents.

Still, whatever the Burnt Pines' future turns out to be, they've left us with at least one eminently enjoyable recording.

[ visit the Burnt Pines' website ]