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The Jayhawks: Smile

Barney Hoskyns, CDNOW.com, 2000

THE BAND THAT helped kick-start the alterna-country sound over a decade ago has undergone a major transformation since the departure of co-founder Mark Olson following 1995's exquisite, reflective, mainly acoustic Tomorrow the Green Grass. The group is now essentially a vehicle for tousle-headed singer/guitarist Gary Louis, who - keen to move beyond Olson's bucolic sweetness - introduced all kind of troubled notes and doubts on 1997's beefed-up Sound of Lies.

Total word count of piece: 252

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