The results are hit-and-miss, especially on the second half, where Eitzel leans too heavily on his trademark lonesome howl to cover up a lack of melody. But the first half is gorgeously miserable, with a pair of ballads (Goffin & King's "No Easy Way Down" and his own "Saved") that explore Eitzel's favorite territory -- the place where romance and desperation are interchangeable. And "Cleopatra Jones" includes the year's best opening line ("The people I was here with said you were nothing but a fag hag and a dope fiend") and a mood of romantic/alcoholic excess -- the perfect kind of song to leave Las Vegas by.

-- Brett Milano

(Mark Eitzel plays the Paradise this Wednesday, May 29, with Joel R.L. Phelps. Eitzel returns as part of the In Their Own Words tour at the Middle East on June 14.)