I am not going to write anything about Rolf's mom. Though lead singer Rolf Klausener's mother is the lyrical focal point of Glory Hope Mountain, this song is all about percussion.

This is easy to overlook within a project so idiosyncratically devised. It's not every day that a band known for indie-folk guitars and oblique personal narrative releases a song cycle about a woman who is particularly important to the songwriter but not particularly important to the rest of us. Oh wait, it is...but your sweetie's story ain't got nothing on Gloria Esperanza Montoya's, so it's understandable that the detailed rhythmic backdrop is partially obscured by the history in the foreground. (See? Even I couldn't avoid mentioning her.)

Also hogging the spotlight are the six-string musings of this guitar player's band. The Acorn began as a Klausener-recorded album light on vocals and heavy on feather-plucked steel strings. Though these days the Acorn sport five members, frequent guests, and a myriad of instruments, their songs still flow firmly from Klausener's fingers, so guitars remain prominent in the mix. Rather than obscure other elements, however, it is the band's consistent guitar work that grounds their sound, allowing the drums to veer wildly into Garifuna territory while still sounding like they're backing a rock song.

This balance is struck in stark binaries on songs like "Flood Pt. 1," where rhythm and melody thrust and parry and clamour for attention. A more tranquil compact reigns here, where a beat made of half drum kit/half whatsit supports the forward movement of the narrative through prolonged absences that increasingly demand to be filled. Moments of solo percussion contain the song like bookends, and the sudden drum drop-outs in the third verse attest to the band's keen sense of space. The subtle ingenuity of the layered rhythms throughout mirrors the quiet, constant victory -- no need to shout from the rooftops -- evoked by the refrain, "I've known Glory all my life."

So try not to get distracted. Dig deep into this record, that's where the magic happens.

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