Espers - The Weed Tree
[Locust]

With Espers' magnificent eponymous debut album recently reissued, seeing the band become something of a leader in the twisted folk scene, the Philadelphia-based group have recorded an entire LP's worth of cover versions named The Weed Tree.

The Weed Tree is a beautiful collection of folk penned tracks and although Espers can't take full arrangement credits, the band have produced the tracks in their own style. Artists reworked include Bert Jansch, Nico, Famous Jug Band, Durutti Column, Michael Hurley and Blue Oyster Cult.

It was from their acclaimed shows that The Weed Tree project first started, with several of the tracks featured here going down extremely well within the group's live sets. As with the self-titled album, each song is a haunting brew of acid folk, baroque chamber music, twisted acoustic influences, traditional arrangements and disturbing atmospheres.

The songs boast impressive performance and varied instrumentation, with a collective of musicians who stay true to the originals, whilst adding their own experimental edge to create something vastly different. An excellent follow-up from the debut, and a brilliant teaser until the second album drops during 2006.