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Broderick was once as integral to Horse Feathers’ sound as Ringle himself, but Thistled Spring doesn’t stumble in his absence, and the retooled lineup pairs well with Ringle’s warming disposition.
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These songs, especially in the album’s first half, are uniformly gorgeous—the melodies are often quite good, and this record is all about finding ways to showcase melodies—but they suffer from sameness.
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Ringle is easily one of the few that can do it so well and lucky us, Thistled Spring is an exemplary example of what folk music is capable of when done right.
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So ignore the melodrama and enjoy the littler pleasures that are provided on Thistled Spring-- and there are quite a few.
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There’s something cathartic in seeing another’s isolation. Thistled Spring, however, is bracing because it refuses to wallow anymore.
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Thistled Spring, more nuanced and poised than its much-lauded predecessor, signals the ongoing work of a band far from finished, far from plumbing the depths of which it is capable.