Chicago's Truckstop Records really has it on a lot of indie labels. They know what they do, they know what they want to do, and they do it very well because of their considerable -- some would even say obsessive -- focus. Central Falls is a case in point. Fronted by Adam Vida, drummer for U.S. Maple and stalwart of Chicago's burgeoning experimental music scene, the band is a foil for his songwriting and singing skills that are far removed from his other projects. Helping him out is brother Ben of Town & Country on electric guitar and vocals, a couple of members of Edith Frost's band, and Noel Kupersmith of Brokeback and the Chicago Underground Quartet. There's also Andy Ulrich on electric bass and Jason Adasiewicz on drums. Musically, the sound is dreamy, rooted in the songscapes of everyone from Kevin Ayers to Paul Westerberg. Lyrically tender and relaxed, there is a soft white underbelly of country music that wends its way through much of the music here, but it isn't confined to that. While "Travel" is suggestive of some of George Harrison's more disjointed music from the later Beatles' recordings, such as Magical Mystery Tour's "Blue Jay Way," "Leave Into" has the shimmering shambolic textures of Neil Young's best middle-period work and "Correction" feels like Alex Chilton trying to write a country waltz (it's only impressionism that leaves these imprints). As a lyricist, Vida is his own man; he centers himself on the minutiae of life as it gathers into something large enough to feel but not necessarily to understand. In "Parallel," the shyly shimmering guitars draw his voice into the mix and let it hover there, coaxing the lyric into the body of the tune like a missive to an absent friend: "As you write letters during sleepless nights/Looking for advice/I will read them once or twice/Wait in line/Holding onto blueprints like the water that goes by...." This is gloriously understated and aesthetically beautiful music that is full of substance and emotion. Chalk another one up for Truckstop in their quest for domination of the human heart. ~ Thom Jurek