So it kicks off with an eminently skippable 8-and-a-half minute track apparently recorded in the back seat of a moving car. So plenty of the other tracks crack six minutes and have that 'sung in the bathroom' quality or are tricked out with fake vinyl crackle. So the quavering, sometimes frantic vocal can only just carry a tune but hardly ever shuts up. So should you bother with the latest Bright Eyes album? reallyrather votes 'yes'.
Re-tracking Lifted or.. to exclude aforesaid opener, the unwelcome Brit-prog-folkisms of Don't know when but a day is gonna come and the 7mins+ of goodtime shambling country-rock that is closer Let's not shit ourselves, reallyrather is still left with almost an hour's worth of darn good stuff. An at times barely mediated splurge of indie-pop-twang, Conor Oberst's back at the wheel and veering all over the shop, getting it all off his chest just in case he dies tomorrow. After the dodgy opener, militaristic drumming propels the great clanging pop of Method acting. This is instantly trumped by the nostalgic string-driven False advertising which taps into the same '50s kitsch as Richard Hawley's stuff. Like quite a few releases this year, both You will and the jaunty Bowl of oranges tip a hat to The Cure while the plaintive slow waltz of Laura Laurent and hopalong twang of Make war drag us back to the dustbowl. Amidst all this sits the swoonsome knock-out punch that is Nothing gets crossed out. Oberst's..er..'singing' voice is a distinctly limited instrument most at home urgently tumbling out his reams of verbiage. When things calm down a bit and the tune's laid bare he could do with a bit of help and on Nothing.. he's mercifully (and quite wonderfully) assisted by Azure Ray's Orenda and Maria. It's another 'Blue Velvet' retro moment with some choice guitar building on the vocal waves. However, even in this sublime situation Oberst still manages to get a little stressed out but all is calm at the resolve. Sometimes raw, superficially difficult, musically and lyrically fearless - it's a wild ride but then the driver's still only 22. Get onboard and chuck the guide book out the window...

Rather brilliantly the Bright Eyes UK tour features Azure Ray in support tho' their wispy, hush-hush sound - recommended somewhere as perfect music for cats to sleep soundly to - will severely challenge the usual throng of bar-dwelling gasbags who prefer the sound of their own voices to the acts they've paid to see. Those dates:
Nov
5 Brighton, Komedia
6 Leeds, Joseph Well
7 Glasgow, King Tut's
8 Belfast, Queens University
9 Dublin, E Whelans
11 Manchester, Night and Day
12 London, Dingwalls

Sadly, reallyrather won't be able support The Tyde at the Water Rats on Tues (27) due to a prior committment elsewhere with The Polyphonic Spree. But anyone who can get there will be richly rewarded with a glistening West Coast take on '80 Lloyd Cole-esque UK indie-pop. At 93 Feet East last week they raised the bar way too high for notional headliners Beachwood Sparks to surpass (despite the bands sharing half the same members). In the face of a less than ideal sound system which overemphasised the shrill top end of 3 guitars and a moog synth and buried the harmonies, the sturdy knock-out melodies of stuff like All my bastard children, Strangers again and North County Times could not be diminished. Perfect sounds for a balmy summer night - only a shame it was London E1 and not Highway One...