Spooked

AMG Review of Spooked

Charles Spano
All Music Guide

With a flair for slowcore country, the Transmissionary Six trudge through dusty, dollar towns with the heartbroken wanderlust of a drifter. Singer Terri Moeller has perfected the druggy and hazy croon of Margo Timmins, and from the somber "Piece of Cake" to the drowsy, pedal steel-driven "Karaoke Star Suffocate," she leads listeners through the dark side of cosmic American music. Much of Spooked -- "Almost Every Dog" and the melancholy "The Tree Who Loved the Axe" -- is far too spare for those who aren't devotees of the kind of music Slowdive was making, or at the very least, Will Oldham. But the Six sure do have a knack for creating a mood. The surreal quality of the record owes much to Kevin Suggs' pedal steel, and while the album may find fans of psychedelic alt-country longing for the sunny disposition of Beachwood Sparks' Farmer Dave Scher and company, Spooked does manage an idiosyncratic sound that stays true to the album title.