Along with bands like Lambchop, Pinetop Seven are squatters on the edge of pop and rock music, and they defy categorization. Attempts by the media to pigeonhole them as, for instance, alternative country are simplistic, unhelpful and inaccurate.

Following their self- titled debut, No Breath In The Bellows continues the Chicago band's exploration of all types of American music. Like other artists on the adventurous Atavistic label, Pinetop Seven is avant- garde, but not in the unapproachable sense. Instead, their music is as accessible as it is challenging. The styles they've mined are just familiar enough that we gladly allow them to lead us into uncharted territory, and in today's often mundane music world, listening to No Breath In The Bellows is escapism.

At once jazz, country, and folk, powered by the marimba and the pedal steel, poetry spoken and sung, Pinetop Seven's unique sound suggests boundless creativity. It's not another type of music, but instead, another world of music.

-James Coyle