Any River [CD]

A decade ago, three employees of JJ's Market and Cafe became Styrofoam Winos. Lou Turner, Trevor Nikrant, and Joe Kenkel bonded over their mutual adoration for Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen, and dollar bin country records. Styrofoam Winos have always gone with the flow, which makes Any River an apt title for their new album, the follow-up to 2024's Real Time. Their playful approach is bolstered by the chops of seasoned musicians who have performed many hundreds of concerts, both together and as touring members of Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band, MJ Lenderman and the Wind, and as solo artists. Each song on Any River came out of jam sessions at Turner and Nikrant's home studio, and a shared Google doc of lyrics soon followed. They recorded in Louisville-their first album made outside of Nashville-with Roadhouse bandmate and Equipment Pointed Ankh mastermind Jim Marlowe. Marlowe's understated production kept the band's unique synergy on full display. Styrofoam Winos manage to strike a perfect balance between reverence and irreverence for the musical traditions they're working within. Their knowledge of the canon is scholarly, but such knowledge is always followed by a wink. It's the music of experienced shapeshifters, defying easy categorization while remaining instantly recognisable.