Given the beautifully crafted, deeply affecting music on How Was Tomorrow, it"s hard to believe that Toronto"s Cash Brothers (Peter and Andrew) had spent virtually no time playing together prior to this debut CD. But this release--surely one of the most compelling debuts in recent memory--wonderfully weaves together their smoky, low-end voices and dense guitars with their individual experiences, both musical and workaday, making a definitive statement that is both haunting and hopeful. The result sounds like the ultimate blend of country and pop--a narcotic combination of the Everly Brothers and Pure Prairie League--but what starts out in the hallways and front porches of country and dark folk slowly unfolds into a multichambered structure of melancholy, clear-eyed pop. This is not bright, shiny pop and twangy country but deep, frequently mournful pop; pop that shimmers, reflects, and sometimes hurts. Masters of the direct, simple statement, the Cash Brothers effortlessly peel off lines like "I am waiting / Like a farmer for rain / Like a healer for pain" ("I Am Waiting"). It"s still hard to peg just exactly what makes them stand out from their peers-- their voices blend perfectly and the instrumentation is fairly standard--but the important thing is that it"s there: that intangible, indescribable quality that keeps you coming back for more, knowing that this is the real thing. --Carl Hanni