This Side

1	Smoothie Song
2	Spit on a Stranger
3	Speak
4	Hanging by a Thread
5	Should've Known Better
6	This Side
7	Green and Gray
8	Seven Wonders
9	House Carpenter
10	Beauty and the Mess
11	Sabra Girl
12	Young
13	Brand New Sidewalk

Barnes & Noble

Nickel Creek's twin desires -- to honor acoustic roots music and update it with a post-millennial pop flourish -- won the young trio a host of fans for their spirited debut. The group's second album, This Side, furthers the cause, seamlessly melding bluegrass and pop strains in a fashion that should attract new admirers even as some mountain-music purists grumble. But tradition is only one side of the Nickel Creek story, and This Side appropriately focuses more on the band's originals and clever covers. No one walks the pop-bluegrass intersect better than Alison Krauss, who returns to produce This Side, allowing the trio to stretch but reining them in before they get too far out there. And out there they venture. Their version of Carrie Newcomer's folkish bit of self-recrimination, "I Should've Known Better," evokes the Beatles in its title, and Krauss's production frames Sara Watkins's delicate soprano in Fab Four touches, such as an "Eleanor Rigby"-style string quartet that plays dissonant retorts and swirling, ascending passages. The pop-folk-rock arrangement of "Spit On a Stranger," from the pen of Pavement's Stephen Malkmus, includes some processed background voices and a snaking electric guitar line. Nickel Creek's originals, mostly written by mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, are equally inspired. Thile's intriguing meditation on youthful love and commitment, "Young," and his "Brand New Sidewalk," a cautionary ballad addressing the pitfalls of fame (keyed by Sean Watkins's Leo Kottke-like riffs), are as emotionally honest as the musical elements are beautifully realized. Nickel Creek's reach oftentimes threatens to exceed their grasp, which makes the effort even more impressive when it works, as on "Spit On a Stranger," where Thile strains to reach a high note and then nails it. Ultimately, they profit from the experience, emerging with something fresh and vital. This Side is a scintillating exercise in making music with muscle, meaning, and great heart. David McGee

All Music Guide

This Side, Nickel Creek's sophomore release, finds bandmembers Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins out of their teens and into their twenties after playing together for 12 years. The southern California band's self-titled debut received wide critical acclaim for welding jazz, rock, and classical music to a bluegrass base. But This Side solidifies Nickel Creek's position as the single most original and inventive bluegrass band to emerge in the early '00s. Hardcore bluegrass fans wary of experimentation or even progressive bluegrass may scoff at this claim. But, when it comes down to it, the gorgeous, open production by Alison Krauss gives Nickel Creek's guitars, mandolins, and fiddles the space to dance through sparkling and genuine arrangements. Covers of everything from Pavement's rollicking Terror Twilight highlight, "Spit on a Stranger," to Carrie Newcomer's scathing folk "Should've Known Better" to the traditional "House Carpenter" are given elegant and unique twists. Plus, Thile and the Watkins siblings' originals, like the sleepy, subtle "Speak" and the darker "Beauty and the Mess," easily outdo the likes of folk-rockers Dave Matthews and Hootie & the Blowfish, while forging a new style to rejuvenate a genre that has always been a bit of a dark horse. It's decidedly more pop than post-rock-gone-folk outfits like Papa M, David Grubbs, Palace, and Miighty Flashlight, and lacks the rock & roll flash of Ryan Adams. But Nickel Creek's music is endlessly rewarding nonetheless, and accessible to just about everyone. ~ Charles Spano, All Music Guide

Billboard

Nickel Creek injects its bluegrass with an exhilarating blend of musical versatility, ambitious melodies, and virtuosity that is at times jaw-dropping.