| · Forget egos and icons – Matthew Sweet, Sean Mullins and Pete Droge trade in singer-songwriter solo stardom for three-way harmonies.
Wearing their influences on their sleeves, the Thorns wage a low-key musical battle with their acoustic guitars. Owing an obvious debt to Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Thorns also references The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and late-model Tom Petty. The lush harmonies and syrupy strings easily evoke bittersweet nostalgia and while parts of the record may sound like Matthew Sweet B-sides, the trio offers an optimistic sensibility that Sweet lacks on his own. Written almost entirely on the back porch of a remote cabin, the laid-back organic nature of the record is no surprise. While the album is not without its ruts, the standout track "I Set The World On Fire" is as good a pop song as you are ever likely to hear.
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