With Tight Knit, Bay area folk outfit Vetiver delves into lolling grooves and endless acoustic guitar tracings for a thoroughly chill outing. Distanced from the more confrontative freak-folk records by a consistent drive toward exceedingly warm melodies and traditional instrumentations, Tight Knit recalls anonymous beach folk rock vinyl from the mid-seventies, where every turn of phrase and harmonized vocal is devised to deliver the most pleasant of listening experiences, every couplet meant to be utterly relatable by a lack of specificity. But  easily accessible song structures and well-worn lyrics sometimes result in overly familiar sounds.

The shaggy guitars and twirling vocals of "Everyday" meander into an uplifting jaunt that might have been recorded by a sleepy Marc Bolan, with the lyrics settling deep into the churning guitars: "While I'm away just know I play this song for you and wait / Wait for me now." The track becomes a heavy-lidded mantra for go-with-the-flow long distance love affairs. "Rolling Sea" wallows in laid-back finger picking and slow-brewed keys while "Sister" slinks into a hypnotic, triangle-heavy swagger that never quite transcends its lackluster lyrics ("Sister, come back home / Mom and Dad already have gone looking for you / Sister, what did you do?"). The rolling fog and haze of "At Forest Edge" supplies a welcome departure into more ambient territory, while "Strictly Rule" pounds out a few spiraling guitar riffs and unleashes a beautifully melded barrage of jingle bells during and instrumental interlude. Tight Knit makes for a pleasant listen, perfect for half-drunk bonfires or sun-drowsy beach days, but a few more rough edges could have extended the disc's power.

Favorite Track: “At Forest Edge”