So much indie buzz, so little time. “Freak-folk”/”beard-rock” flag-waver/standard-bearer and Houston homeboy (by birth, anyway) Devendra Banhart is name-checked so often on Pitchforkmedia.com and other more-alternative-than-thou outlets, chances are if you’re in a position to have heard of this guy at all, it probably feels like he’s coming out of your metaphorical ears before you’ve even heard strum one. Banhart’s charming new CD, Cripple Crow, sounds not unlike a four-way cross between a non-cracked Will Oldham, a cheerful Nick Drake, Jonathan Richman in his most starry-eyed ethnological-forgery mode and a Mayo Thompson/Red Krayola tribute act (this last lending some support to the tenuous local connection). All of which translates to “good stuff.” Chalk up another one for the hipster police. Inspirational lyric: “She’s kissed everyone I’ve kissed.” Say what?
This article appears in Oct 6-12, 2005.