Eden and John’s East River String Band consists of Eden Brower and John Heneghan, along with a few special guests: Dom Flemons, Eli Smith & Pat Conte. They don’t write their own songs, but instead do arrangements of traditional songs, remade to sound like picking and singing from the 1920s and 1930s. This could come off as hokey or arrogant, but it’s actually fantastic. There’s something haunting about the singer’s voice and the guitar and ukulele works keeps everything chugging along. The standout track, for me, is “The Fate of Talmadge Osborne,” with its chorus “Many a man’s been murdered by the railroad.” Most of the songs on this aren’t any cheerier than that, but something about the arrangements keeps them plucky. This is a great throwback record, one that works as a perfect introduction to the outdoor music that summertime brings around. 8/10 -- Shannon Smith (2 June, 2010)