Long regarded as one of the best live acts in New York, Oakley Hall has finally delivered on the promise of its collective talent and the energy of its live shows with the masterpiece Gypsum Strings, their second full-length release this year.While the first, Second Guessing (Amish), established Oakley Hall as one of the premier roots rock bands in the land, Gypsum Strings turns the volume way up and traditions on their heads. Building on the straighter Second Guessing blueprint, Gypsum Strings busts out of Americana norms and reimagines Laurel Canyon as made of steel and glass. The band’s dynamic range and killer songwriting chops are in evidence as they careen from shredding urban rockers (“Confidence Man” and “Lazy Susan”) to spare and haunting balladry (“Living in Sin in the U.S.A.” and “Nite Lights, Dark Days”). Their co-ed posse harmonies, which Bust magazine recently called “some of the most stunning in recent history,” light up the landscape the whole way. They’ll sound like no string band in your vernacular.Which makes sense as they—although hailing originally from all over the rural American south and northeast—cut their teeth on stages with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Animal Collective, Oneida and Liars in Brooklyn’s rock underground.

1. Confidence Man
2. Having Fun Again
3. Lazy Susan
4. Living in Sin in the USA
5. House Carpenter
6. Bury Your Burden
7. If I Was in El Dorado
8. Nite Lights, Dark Days
9. Spanish Fandango