Moving to the renowned Chicago indie label
Thrill Jockey
didn't bring a tremendous change to
Giant Sand
's sound on their album,
Chore of Enchantment
. Aside from a couple of punkier numbers with thumping drum loops and noisy guitars, the music is mostly restrained and rootsy, its elegiac quality perfectly suited to the record's emotional backdrop -- the cancer-related death of guitarist
Rainer Ptacek
, who does appear here with a touching slide-guitar instrumental that closes the record. However, the often rudimentary melodies outlined by
Gelb
's dry vocals don't help make
an incredibly accessible record to those outside the group's cult. Many of the songs tend to drift by without grabbing hold, more about atmosphere and
's poetry than anything else. Some cuts underscore
's haunted, lonely desert hallucinations with organ and Mellotron, to a nicely otherworldly effect; the full, fleshed-out sound on these tracks provides the most satisfying listening here. Fans will be glad to have
carrying on after
Ptacek
's tragic departure. ~ Steve Huey