Hezekiah Jones' Come To Our Pool Party EP (and I hesitate to call it such as it's almost as long as their last full length) is several firsts for Yer Bird: our first EP release and our first second release by an artist - it feels like the best kind of growth, the kind that takes stock of what's come before it and pushes it forward. In many ways, this album shows that same kind of growth for Hezekiah Jones. Raph Cutrufello, the band's primary singer, lyricist and all around handyman, has drawn on a wide palette of experiences, people and recordings from the past several years to put this all together. The first track, Robin and Beth, originally dates back to the first batch of songs I heard from Hezekiah Jones before the release of 'Hezekiah Says You're A-Ok.' It's simple mantra is characteristic of what makes him such a compelling writer - the ability to pull swaying grace straight from the ether of the most plainspoken melodies. Dark Hollow, the following track, is a new recording of an old song (dating back to at least 1933) is treated handsomely with backing from Michael Baker and Barbara Gettes from The Spinning Leaves - in fact the album features guest turns from a variety of Philadelphia musicians and artists Hezekiah Jones has toured with since their inception - Chris Grunwald assists masterfully on half of the tracks and Michigan songwriter phenom Chris Bathgate contributes vocals to Rain-Stars! - and the collaborative nature of the record keeps everyone on their collective toes. Cupcakes for the Army is something of a very rare breed: an overtly political song that's not preachy, that somehow retains its universality, that has something specific to say while still being expertly hewn poetry - in contemporary folk music that's one in a million. Knives of Summertime was originally recorded in the first part of 2007 for the immediately-out-of-print Sparklehorse tribute album, That Horse Yonder (Slight), and it's so unrelentingly beautiful that I'm thrilled they decided to make it available here. Every track on here really is pretty gorgeous in it's own right - Clare Callaghan's vocal turn on Put On Your Light is stunning, Liz Gallagher's poem-set-to-music, That Panel..., is structurally intriguing (and a direction I'd love see Hezekiah Jones explore further), the closing Mississippi Sea - originally written for the Folk Music for the End of the World (Yer Bird) compilation - makes the perfect closing track as it chronicles the fall of Man in turns wistful, humorous and unnerving and ultimately ties it all up tight with a bow.