The Year of the Snaex: Teret and Sutherland's Holy Times

More than ever, even last year's lovely album In the Heart of the City, Christopher Teret and Chriss Sutherland have stretched their individual personas into true foils. As musicians whose prior vessels had more to do with escape and exploration — Sutherland with the amorphous, freak-folk carnival act Cerberus Shoal from 1995 to 2007, and Teret, who hails from Baltimore, with his post-punk group Company — the barebones earnestness of Snaex is one of the group's principle appeals.

It's the musical equivalent of radical honesty. And just like living a radically honest life, it can be fantastic — provided you have the proper dosage and setting. On Holy Times, the two conspire toward a humility, understanding, and vulnerability toward the real-ass issues of their day-to-day lives — as fathers, partners, thoughtful citizens, and lifelong fighters who have mouths to feed. And they've got a new bassist, Tyler Heydolph, in tow, loosening the valves as the two guitarists steer through this slow, steady, lyrical folk.