YOKE SHIRE
A Seer in the Midst
(Zygo)
Boston's distinctive Yoke Shire seems too shortly into its career to be issuing an odds and ends record. After all, so far the band has released only one full-length record, 1999's masterful Masque of Shadows, as perfect an appreciation of the progressive and classic rock of the 70s as you're likely to find. But Yoke Shire has existed in one form or another (always revolving around the Herlihy brothers, guitarist Brian and multi-instrumentalist Craig) since 1994, and has accumulated enough tracks over the past decade to put together A Seer in the Midst, a collection that mines the breadth of the group's influences. The four oldest tunes cut closest to the classic rock bone, from the heavy rock romanticism of "Mystical Mistress" to the olde tyme prog of "24 Hours Past" and the progressive folk rock of the title track. The solo guitar excursion "Dogfight," which attempts to evoke the situation noted in the title, pays homage to Hendrix's introductory flights of fancy from days gone by. Two new tracks open the album; the wordless "Mesmerize" and the mostly instrumental "Ghan Buri Ghan" sounds more like sketches than songs, but the brothers have enough talent to make even their experiments interesting. The centerpiece of Midst is the same as that of Masque: the long, three-part "Maiden Voyage" epic, only in a live version. The fact that, as a trio, the band can pull off such a complex song, with Craig jumping from instrument to instrument without aid of backing tapes or samples, is pretty damned impressive, though whether that justifies a repeat engagement with the song on what's essentially Yoke Shire's second record is open to debate. Overall A Seer in the Midst comes across as what it is: a stopgap until a proper record is complete. As side trips go, at least it's an entertaining one. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Jethro Tull, Atomic Rooster, early Yes