Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst

An underwhelming first listen saw the poison pen brandished, ready to decry the celebrated Bright Eyes prodigy’s eponymous effort for the crime of being sub-sub Neil Young. Nothing grates more than shabby, twee folk music in the American tradition, and overwrought lyrical affectations ("the starving children ain't got no mother, there's pink flamingos living in the mall"?) with a seemingly uninspired musical backdrop gave the feeling this was indeed one of young Oberst’s more pointless efforts to date. To the absolute contrary, by the third play it becomes obvious that we’re dealing with a genuinely talented songwriter, one who evokes wondrous mental imagery with a combination of genuine poetry and understated but subtly clever instrumentation. Wistful opener Cape Canaveral, ballad Lenders in the Temple, and jaunty folk hymn Danny Callahan in particular display the breadth of his abilities. It's a grower, to be sure. [Paul Mitchell]