Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst

Let’s face it, solo projects usually suck. At some point in every artist’s career, they decide to abandon what made them great and start over with an acoustic guitar. The results are often disastrous. Punks put out albums of touching ballads, or worse, balladeers decide to commit career suicide with an insipid rock album. The most recent release from anti-depressant poster boy Conor Oberst, manages to dodge those bullets. In fact, the self-titled album is so good that in many ways it surpasses the greatness of Oberst’s day job as Bright Eyes. The album was recorded in a few spiritual weeks on location in Mexico with a group of friends dubbed The Mystic Valley Band. The result sounds more polished than almost the entire Bright Eyes catalogue. Songs like “Cape Canaveral” and “I Don’t Want to Die (in the Hospital)” are the best examples of the more refined approach, and are just darn good songs to boot. For long time fans the new sound may be somewhat of a put off, but rest assured the sparse and thought-provoking “Lenders in the Temple” and “Milk Thistle” will hold up well next to any three-chord, truth-bleeding, barely audible, Bright Eyes bootleg. The refreshing lack of melodrama on Conor Oberst might be a disappointment to all the fanboys sitting in their basements with thick rimmed glasses, cardigan sweaters, and a well-worn copies of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”. But then again, what isn’t a disappointment to them?

Matt Smith