Amplifier Magazine

Too Close to See Far is a transitional record for Scotland's Cosmic Rough Riders -- it's the band's first as a quartet following the amicable departure of founding member and chief songwriter Daniel Wylie. On paper, Wylie's departure should leave a gaping hole in the band; he was, after all, the writer or co-writer of every single track on the band's breakthrough Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine album. And while the Cosmic Rough Riders sans Wylie are indeed a different animal, Too Close to See Far contains an impressive number of musical highlights that approach those of Melodic Sunshine. CRR retains, for example, its overt Beach Boys influences: the heavily layered background vocals, the strange, spacey Theramin-like sound in the chorus of "Sunrise," and the "Our Prayer"-for-the-21st century a capella exercise "Tomorrow May Never Come." Not to mention songs titled "For a Smile" and "Smile." And while such delicate, beautiful tracks as "Life in Wartime," "Kill the Time" and "The Need to Fly" would have fit quite nicely on Melodic Sunshine, CRR flexes its instrumental muscle on "Justify the Rain," "For a Smile" and "Because You." The end result recalls the Byrds crossed with the Jayhawks, with a healthy dose of Teenage Fanclub thrown in for good measure. With Too Close to See Far, the Cosmic Rough Riders emerge from the loss of a major cog slightly bruised, but largely unbowed.

-Rick Schadelbauer