Trampled By Turtles

The irony of Trampled By Turtles’ name—considering the blazing speed at which the band plays—has been noted before, but it’s still worth noting that music by five guys sitting on chairs playing bluegrass on acoustic instruments is rarely so powerfully fast. Like Colorado’s Yonder Mountain String Band, the group approaches traditional roots music with a vigorous, rock-influenced energy. The 2007 album Trouble expanded the Turtles’ sound by including that radical new invention known as drums, but the band always knows better than to mess around too much with something that works. The focus remains, very much so, on furious instrumental interplay, not to mention the harmonies. Stars And Satellites, the band’s new album, starts on a sweet, slow note with “Midnight On The Interstate,” but still packs plenty of blazing dexterity fans have come to expect.

Updated 04/05/2012