This new freak-folk scene really scares me. Seriously, the thought of hippie revivalists roving the country with their plague of uber-happy attitudes and anti-everything propaganda is enough to keep a half-sane conservative up at night. Which is ironic, because the very same music behind this revolution sounds so genuinely refreshing and good that it's like a fresh coat of purple paint on your soul. Devendra Banhart is at the forefront of this neo folk, retro-rockin' and once the groove makes it past your weak defenses, you'll be transformed by it. Cripple Crow serves as further evidence that this genre is more than just a passing fad. So if you catch a whiff of patchouli and hear the soft but steady thump of Birkenstocks on the march - prick up your ears and give Banhart a chance to take you back to a time when we all sung about a "Peace Train" and didn't see any reason to doubt that such a train might pull right into your home town.

Mr. Banhart is by no means new to this increasingly popular scene. Cripple Crow is his fourth album in as many years and he's not slowing down. Last year saw two full-length releases and a few months ago he joined forces on a split LP with Jana Hunter. With all of his restless activity, Banhart's Cripple Crow is familiar sounding enough to please die-hard freak-folkers, while showing that his sound has evolved enough to add even greater worth to it. 22 tracks short and a handful of those in Spanish find Banhart at his most creative musically and highlight his growth as a writer and vocalist.

Nothing here is as catchy as "This Is the Way" from the first and superior of the 2004 LPs, Rejoicing in the Hands, but the songs do sound more diverse and absolute. That shows on the album's poignant second single "Heard Somebody Say" when he sings, "I heard somebody say that the war ended today, but everybody knows its goin' still" to the more textural R&B take on "Little Boys" as he gushes, "Life is tough and love is rough for the man who just can't seem to ever get enough."
By clocking in at just over an hour, the album suffers from excessiveness, but Banhart has a captivating delivery in his words and is apparently capable of magically turning back time. Whether you're skeptical of this neo-freak-folk movement or are one of it's lobbyists, Devendra Banhart proves that he is a chief torch-bearer and with four solid records to date, he cannot seem to disappoint.