This Side
Whereas Nickel Creek'sdebut albumestablished the  young California trio at the progressive vanguard of traditional bluegrass, this  ambitious, risky follow-up finds their acoustic artistry straying far afield.  Mandolin playerChris  Thileand the Watkins siblings--guitarist Sean and fiddler Sara--continue to  impress with their intuitive instrumental interplay and lush vocal harmonies.Sean Watkins's title cut  achieves the sprightliest blend of traditional bluegrass instrumentation and  contemporary pop craft, while the ruminative melancholy of "Hanging by a Thread"  and "Green and Gray" sound as though Thile has been listening to a lot ofElliott Smith(and  reading the published poetry of Jewel). The album also featuresPavement's "Spit on a  Stranger,"Carrie  Newcomer's "Should've Known Better," and a traditional British ballad,  "House Carpenter." However, much of the collection's original material lacks the  maturity to match the trio's musical gifts, as songs incorporating influences  ranging from neo-psychedelia to alt pop often suffer from self-consciousness.  Kindred-spirit producerAlison Kraussplainly  gave the project a long leash, and the results can be viewed as either sophomore  slump or creative growth spurt--or perhaps both.--Don McLeese