Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger

Lost Highway

This is the best Ryan Adams & The Cardinals album yet. Clocking in around 40 minutes, it’s also the shortest and the most consistent. Some of the songs have been around for years. ‘Off Broadway’ first appeared on the unreleased ‘Suicide Handbook’ in 2001 and ‘These Girls’ used to be called ‘Hey There Mrs. Lovely’ and is even older. The point is that while Adams has been a little short on quality control lately, with Easy Tiger it’s as if he wants to show us that he can choose the right songs to create an album with a definite feel. The feel is of a comfortable, well-oiled band. ‘Goodnight Rose’ and ‘Halloween Head’ showcase the garage rock side of The Cardinals similar to ‘Sweet Illusions’ and it’s a shame that side doesn’t appear more. The rest of the album is all acoustic guitar and Adams reclaiming his crown as the ‘Bummer King’. ‘Two’ is a beautiful lament with Sheryl Crow, ‘Everybody Knows’ has a great chorus about unrequited love and ‘The Sun Also Sets’ is a classic. While it’s short on instantly gratifying hits, the songs reward repeated listens until you realise that this is his best album since ‘Gold’.

Words_Andrew Williamson

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Two’, ‘Halloween Head’, ‘Oh My God Whatever etc’
FOR FANS OF: Whiskeytown, Wilco, The Jayhawks

Issue #52 - Very Bro-some

Featuring Panama Kings, ASIWYFA, an investigation into DIY touring, details of what over 25 of the finest NI bands are up to in 2009 and much more.