Cazadero, the project fronted by our good friend and former Bay Bridged contributor Joe Hayes, just released Domestic Refugee, their third LP in a little over four years. Hayes, a longtime veteran of the local scene was once a member of the eclectic improvisers The Don’ts, (who were featured on The Bay Bridged’s first compilation album and Podcast 217). With Cazadero, Hayes and his band have developed a distinct retro sound that makes me want to use the word “ramble” for some reason. Domestic Refugee is a trip across the United States (rambling in a large olive-green Buick from the 70’s, at least in my mind). Hayes explains:

Crossing the Mississippi from East for the first time, Joe Jones proceeds to pass through 48 states. Domestic Refugee is a coming-of-age travelogue through the barren farmland of northern New England (Bigger Life) to the desolate mass of Wyoming (Rest Area), underneath Florida’s gaping sink holes (Hold Still), resolving in the uninhabited log-jammed beaches of the Northwest (AM Blues) after an ephemeral romance with California (Been A Long Time). Escaping cults (Heaven’s Bus), natural disaster (Remains of Day), and family tragedy (Oklahoma), the songs trace a diaspora of the domestic US rural community, as experienced by Jones.

Check it out below: