The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features

Elvis Perkins | Elvis Perkins in Dearland

XL (2009)
By ZETH LUNDY  |  March 3, 2009
3.0 3.0 Stars

090306_perkins_mian
Elvis Perkins is the third Elvis on my iPod, and he's also the least controversial of the lot: he doesn't shake his pelvis or appropriate the unsung musical styles of others, and he certainly hasn't engaged in an epithet-laced bar fight at a Holiday Inn.

Perkins's bag is a knack for making the lonely conceits of the contemporary singer-songwriter sound uplifting. His sophomore release, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, which shares the name of his terrific band, offers both minor- and major-key songs, all of them extending their arms skyward like huzzahs from the barstool; even "Doomsday" is quite the reveler.

Perkins's simple, folk-hymn melodies are helped along by New Orleans brass, harmonica, B-3 organ, and harmonium, their trumpeting and wheezing sounds adding levity to blunt statements like "Black is the color of a strangled rainbow." This push-and-pull makes for a listening experience that's introspective and celebratory, a beautiful confusion in your gut — or, as Perkins puts it near the end, "We were happy once, you and me, when we were sad."
Related: That kind of pretty, Elvis Perkins, Max Tundra | Parallax Error Beheads You, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Elvis Perkins, XL, Audio and Video Devices,  More more >
  • Share:
  • RSS feed Rss
  • Email this article to a friend Email
  • Print this article Print
Comments

THE BEST 2009
Today's Event Picks
ARTICLES BY ZETH LUNDY
Share this entry with Delicious

 See all articles by: ZETH LUNDY

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group