Austin Sound

James Hyland has been bouncing around country music’s lesser-known echelon for over a decade, most notably with the South Austin Jug Band, writing modestly good tunes that fall pleasantly somewhere between alt-country and folk rock. On his debut solo effort with his band the Joint Chiefs, Hyland’s uncanny ability to produce soft-spoken, well-rounded songs is ever apparent. Celestial Navigation is a glimpse at the modern day troubadour, road-weary and broken-hearted, making his way across America with a cache of delicate and delightful country rock.

It’s difficult to decipher exactly what Agent Ribbons wants to be. Recently transplanted to Austin via Sacramento, the trio’s sophomore album ranges broadly in sound and ambition, and while individually the tunes are deployed with both an enchanting and edgy aplomb, as a whole the LP feels somewhat at odds with itself. There’s gritty garage riffs, swooning ballads, and an array of musical stylings that the female troupe manages to brush through in under 40 minutes, all wrapped in a kind of gypsy atmosphere that bobs and weaves to various degrees throughout. But that conflicting sound may also be taken as appropriate and intentional, as Chateau Crone could be understood as an exposition on an increasingly developing madness, a kind of musical take on “The Yellow Wallpaper” or the more directly cited “Grey Gardens.” From the emphatic opening of “I’m Alright” through to the closing carnivalesque yelp and swirl of “Wood, Lead, Rubber,” there is an overall progression into a hideous ecstasy of abandon.