Goldheart Assembly, Wolves and Thieves

The fresh-faced country-rock six-piece Goldheart Assembly have been relentlessly compared to Fleet Foxes. But a longer perspective draws comparisons to more audacious, original Crowded House and The Hollies — there's a touch of the former's meticulous craft and the latter's winsome jangle in Wolves and Thieves's pastoral country-rock.

The band recorded most of this burnished debut at Forncett Industrial Steam museum in Norfolk, England, where they were encouraged to draw on the venerable machinery's rumble and rhythm. "Jesus Wheel" opens with the clunking of an antique engine, followed by James Dale's keening vocal, bearing what sounds like a hard-earned life lesson: "It's hard for you to win anything on the Jesus wheel." Then, the song swings through a remarkable procession of sounds, from light acoustic interludes to crescendos of piano and synthesiser growls; next comes a chaotic breakdown of noise, and finally a broken-down conclusion as the machine lurches to a halt.

As that conclusion implies, the Gold Heart Assembly show a perverse knack for picking apart their well-crafted songs. "So Long St. Christopher" moves from sweetness to a maelstrom of screams, while "Reminder" degenerates into massed mad cackling. Yet their fundamental approach is that of an unusually versatile country rock band, singing in velvety multipart harmony on "King of Rome's" opening vocal flare. With sounds so alluring, there's little harm done by barely discernible lyrics touching on unspecific loneliness, burdens carried and general mess.

What distinguishes this Assembly from their country-rock contemporaries is their striking confidence, which grants them the ability to pull off gambits most new young bands would shy away from. "Carnival 4 (The Carrying Song)", for instance, reels off into the distance on a repetitive two-and-a-half minute looping refrain, a "Hey Jude" bit without the voices. It should wear thin, but somehow the boys hold it aloft, sending the song into the ether on the strength of their sheer audacity. This same temerity propels the Gold Heart Assembly through their remarkably assured and successful debut effort.