On Again, Castles in Spain demonstrates that their music is as powerful and majestic as the towering fortresses for which they’re named.  The lead singer, Bianchi, continues the tradition of outstanding female rock vocalists to emerge from the San Francisco music scene. On the album’s opener, “My Nerves,” her voice might have you doing a double-take and scanning the album credits for the name Grace Slick.  Thereafter she sounds like a slightly more subdued version of the venerable—and more contemporary—Linda Perry. 

The guitar and rhythm work on the album is also excellent.  The music is at once tough, lush and hypnotic, often reminiscent of the musical atmosphere created by bands like Porno for Pyros. The album’s title track has an epic sounding quality to it, hitching the listening on a musical ride comparable to that of Jane’s Addiction “Three Days.”  And whether the tracks are ambitious in scope like “Again” or bring violin to the mix to create a beautiful melancholy in a tune such as “Look in Her Eyes,” the material is solid and accomplished, start to finish.

Favorite Track: Track 3, “Again”