“The Past Ain’t Far,” the impressive first full-length record from Brooklyn-based Ceramic, restores faith in the alt-country category. This isn’t another bearded hipster with a banjo, but rather elegantly produced, memorable music reminiscent of early Wilco, folky Beck, and Jason Molina’s Magnolia Electric Co. Led and produced by songwriter John Scheaffer along side producer Charles Newman (who worked on the Magnetic Fields’ “69 Love Songs” among other masterpieces), “The Past Ain’t Far” mixes roots rhythm and blues, pop folk, and wistful rock n’roll. The album opens with the dreamy, melodic strings and romantic acoustic guitar of “You Give More Than Enough” and closes with the Brian Jonestown Massacre-channeling-the Doors “Lose the King.” In between, stand out songs include the nouveau spaghetti western ditty “How’d You Get So Down” and the title track “The Past Ain’t Far” with its delicate fingerpicking amid the background of an old, faintly scratching vinyl record. – Whitney Phaneuf