Following
Mark Olson's amicable departure, the remaining
Jayhawks reconvened under the direction of
Gary Louris to record
Sound of Lies, the band's most ambitious album to date. Like
Wilco's
Being There,
Sound of Lies uses country-rock as a foundation and wanders off into a variety of different sonic territories, including surf rock and
Beatlesque pop, bringing the music closer to the sound of adult alternative pop/rock. Although the surface of the album is pleasant and melodic,
Louris has written a uniformly harrowing set of songs, inspired both by the dissolution of his partnership with
Olson and a recent divorce. The lyrics have a naked, emotional honesty which would have been more affecting if the music echoed its sentiment, yet the record still has a subtle grace and power, proving that
the Jayhawks remain a distinctive band without
Olson. ~ Thom Owens