Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band - Conor Oberst

Wichita

The ever prolific Cobor Oberst continues to stake his claim for the best young songwriter in America with another collection of rattling wordplay and good ol’ country rock. He might have ditched his usual Bright Eyes name, but not necessarily the sound. Much of this, to be fair, still sounds like the records he bangs out with his day job, but the contrast has been turned up a few notches. Quieter reflections such as ‘Cape Canaveral’ and ‘Milk Thistle’ are more stripped back and sparse than Oberst has released before, while other songs such as the fairly pointless knees-up ‘NYC – Gone, Gone’ shoot to the other end of the spectrum. This self-titled album is a mixture of mercies: ‘Danny Callahan’, a melancholy tale of childhood illness, is a lovely, mewing thing, but its mood is promptly spoiled by the clod-hopping rocker ‘I Don’t Want To Die (In The Hospital)’. Oberst is still a clever, inventive lyricist, but there’s too much filler for this to be deemed a true classic. Crackers like the Beat narrative ‘Moab’ just about justify the admission price, but he has done better, and he will do better again. Ross Thompson

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DOWNLOAD: ‘DANNY CALLAHAN’, ‘MOAB’.
FOR FANS OF: BOB DYLAN, HANK WILLIAMS, ELVIS COSTELLO.

Issue #51 - I Told You This Would Be A Good Issue

Featuring Biffy Clyro, Of Montreal, Duke Special, Frightened Rabbit, Cold War Kids, Jay Reatard, Pat Mills, and more.