Trees Of Mystery Mount Prospect IL

A single verse of the opening song ("This Time") isall it takes to recognize this band's name is no coincidence. Yes,"Catapult" is the name of a particularly keening, propulsiveCounting Crows song, and yes, the boys of American Catapult areclearly big CC fans.

By the time the opener chugs into its fadeout andlead singer/songwriter Tom Townsend chant/shouts "Time / time /time / time" at the high end of his register like any right-mindedAdam Duritz disciple would, I'm left wondering if the band has anyother tricks in their bag. Fortunately for all involved, they do.In fact, their natural style seems a bit rawer and morealt-country/Americana than the Crows, with nice harmony vocals oncuts like "This Time" and "Easily Distracted" by drummer ShawnWinters.

Once past the opener, the rest of the first quarterof Trees Of Mystery emphasizes lyrical imagery overinstrumental fire, but then you get to "Whirlwind," and the rest ofthe band -- Winters, bassist Terry Overlin and guitarist Mike Bock-- get their chances to shine while navigating its surging melody."Crooked Straight" brings the focus back to Townsend's words with aself-conscious but occasionally funny lament that's half about agirl and half about the trials of lyric-writing. As to affirm hisalt-country intentions, Townsend name-checks "no depression" in thelilting, cleverly constructed "Goodbye," then returns toDuritz-land in thestop-start-chant-high-over-repeating-jangly-chords CC homage "FindAnother Way."

Which raises the obvious issue with American Catapult-- they're a talented bunch, but it all feels just a little toosafe, as if they're not ready yet to explore anything outside themusical boundaries sketched by their most admired forebears. That,in turn, blunts the impact of the album. Trees Of Mysterydisplays quality workmanship all the way through, but didn't leaveme with more than a single track -- the aforementioned opener "ThisTime" -- that I immediately wanted to go back and listen to again.Townsend himself remarks in "Goodbye" on his penchant for minorchords, and it's both a self-conscious and a telling reference.