Jon Fried, inspired by a demo recording of "There's a Crop Circle on My Daddy's Land" made by his Cucumbers partner Deena Shoshkes, wrote a novella called Hello George. The book makes references to many songs, and those songs have been realized by Shoshkes and Fried and are being released as a set with the book.

The Cucumbers As You Heard Me (Life Force Records)

So, yes, the song that inspired the novella leads off this album. And there are also bonus tracks of non-novella songs that are nonetheless attributed to a character in the book. Are you following me? I ask because I'm not entirely sure I'm following myself.

These songs are presented in glorious lo-fi, but they are better than demo-quality. The Cucumbers meander around gentle pop, folk and generally twee sounds. Are these songs precious? Yes, but they earn it. For all of the crazy, internecine origin stories that swirl around this set, the music itself rolls along without a care. If I didn't know anything about the book, I'd be enchanted all the same.

Oh, yes, Hello George is set in the music world and is entirely enmeshed with the music that illuminates its core. I haven't read it, but I might one of these days. The music that it inspired (or is it the other way around) is quite the kick. Wherever inspiration lies, it's always worth following.

Jon Worley