I think my favorite is when you take off your socks after a long work day. It. Feels. Great. And that’s when you slip into your comfortable cottons, ready to watch BriWilly on the evening news and eat your Hamburger Helper. We all have our favorite comfortable things. Eric Bachmann’s voice comforts me. It is equal parts sea and bar; able to contain whatever depth of mood you’re in, while at the same time seeming familiar and approachable. And for all his work as Eric Bachmann or pseudonym Barry Black, since 1995 this man has never been getting the deserved amount of attention. He’s released several solo efforts (2006′s To The Races of special note), and worked with bands like Spoon, Azure Ray, Damien Jurado, all the while keeping up with his bands Archers of Loaf and Crooked Fingers.
Together with long time band mate and songwriter Liz Durrett, Bachmann keeps that potent combination of open potential and personal reference on their new record under Crooked Fingers, Breaks In The Armor. The lyrics are wide enough to mean anything, but somehow you can relate to every word of it. With the rich guitar work, and frequent harmonies, there’s a lot to love on Crooked Finger’s seventh (if my count is right) album. “She Tows The Line” is a personal favorite, but album opener “Typhoon” is a much better first introduction to the band and their tendencies. And it’s free, below.
Crooked Fingers – Typhoon by MergeRecords
(Breaks In The Armor is available now from Merge Records)
-Matt
