This is an outstanding album, a near perfect blend of styles that provides a true "alternative" sound. Take a four piece college band from Kansas, make sure the drummer is as influenced by Latin and African rhythms as by Rock. Add a singer/songwriter/guitarist with a beautifully smooth voice, genuine lyric ability and who occasional substitutes a mandolin for the expected guitar. Then just in case the mix isn’t varied enough, instead of a second guitarist or keyboard player, add a seasoned violinist.

The result is such an accomplished eleven track CD that it has already been licensed wholesale to MTV productions for use as background music on both "Road Rules" and "Real World". Their music will also be heard in an upcoming Miramax film "The Albatross" and a Disney kids game show.

A band then already on the edge of greatness, but this is so much more than just background music to the brain dead adventures of annoying spoilt college age rich kids. There are flashes of genuine brilliance here, the influences are widespread, Latin, Bluegrass, African, alternative rock, but all wrapped in a blanket of pop that keeps it accessible at all times. Probably the single strongest aspect of the music is its intoxicating rhythms, invoking images of beautiful Hippie girls in long-flowing blue dresses. It will make even the most male of men want to twirl the one they love.

Those of you scared by the mention of a violin can rest easy, it is used as instrument in a pop rather than a classical sense. At times it plays the lead, carrying the music forward, at other times it is just a part of the band. Singer, and main man, Dain Estes has a voice that floats across the music like a well-skimmed stone over water. Or to evoke a different image, a dollop of whipped cream on a perfect Irish coffee. Certainly there is something of the cocktail to this bands blending of different styles, and even a casual listening could cause a sense of dizziness.

The album has a heavy dose of both slower, moody love songs, and more upbeat danceable tunes. The end result though is always positive, and the song writing is excellent. From opener "Expectations" to end track "Out of Touch", there is no filler, just constantly great music. Shaking Tree are a band who transcend easy classification and who should be moving onto huge things any day now. If you have just a touch of romance in your heart and rhythm in your soul then grab this album before they go onto superstar status. Excellent, excellent, excellent.

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