I've found my three new favorite bands and they're all Farm. Whether they're easing listeners in with stripped-down folk‚ weaving elaborate blues-tinged masterpieces‚ or offering straightforward rock‚ Farm offer something for everybody. The first time I listened to The Cave‚ it seemed so scattered across the genre map that it felt more like a compilation than the fruits of one band. The songs are cohesive as a group‚ but there are so many different voices‚ noises and moods on the album that it seemed improbable for only three men to have created it.

Farm succeed at being so diverse by tossing out traditional band guidelines of one guy to an instrument by allowing the multi-talented Jedd Kettler‚ Joshua Givens and Ben Maddox to take turns with the microphone and a slew of instruments. What results is a musical Chinese fire drill; every time you think you know where Farm is headed next‚ someone else grabs the wheel and peels out in a completely different direction. At the entrance of The Cave‚ we find "The Bulls‚" a playfully naïve narrative that serves as great foreplay for the audio orgasm ahead. "Revelation Sessions" follows with a twangy acoustic feel that dominates the first few songs on the album. The beginning of "Blast Furnace" hints at Farm's diversity by opening with an array of percussion that sounds like a blacksmith was in the studio forging steel to the beat.

But it's not until the seductive blues rock of "Noah's Horse" that Farm reveal their louder side. Energy climaxes in "The Middle‚" a catchy instrumental track driven by minimalist blues riffs and punctuated with harmonica. Cave comes to a mellow end with "Roots Dug In‚" a relaxed ending to an exciting album. While "Roots" may not be the most surprising result of the fire drill‚ it gives listeners a chance to catch their breath and reflect on the incredible joyride Farm just took them on.