(Fallout, UK) www.soundlinkmusic.com

Oh, to be a band rescued from obscurity by a preeminent reissue label like Fallout, only to have your legacy be defined by the accomplishments of another band. Such is the case with West Coast roots-rock ensemble Yellow Hand. The sextet must have been supremely confident in the potential for success of this, their only record. Released in 1970 – at the very height of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s fame – Yellow Hand could claim that half of its songs were written and demoed by Stephen Stills and Neil Young for Buffalo Springfield, but, at the time, never previously released... by anyone.

What machinations of Hollywood fate that led to these guys lucking into these songs is anyone’s guess now, but needless to say, Yellow Hand failed to capitalize on their coup. They did, however, do the “lost Buffalo Springfield songs” (as well as an un-lost Delaney and Bonnie song) justice. While never nailing the warm, harmonic heights of Stills, Young and Richie Furay, the four singers in Yellow Hand do an admirable job. The folksy elation of cuts like “We’ll See” sound like what they are – Buffalo Springfield leftovers – but the Yellow Hand originals like “Home” tend to a warmer, more rustic vibe that’s surprisingly fully-formed for a group that had to rely on other people to write more than half of their first record.

Standout Tracks: “We’ll See,” “Down to the Wire” JASON FERGUSON