Cass McCombs - Catacombs

US singer-songwriter Cass McCombs returns with his second album for Domino, Catacombs, a musically melancholic but lyrically sharp record. McCombs is a drifter, travelling from coast to coast; his music replicates the wandering nature of his existence with hesitant but peripatetic drums rendering the gentler of his songs with ramshackle intensity, while at each track's heart lies an unnamed melancholy which cumulatively makes Catacombs an affecting listen. It's difficult to hang McCombs with the lazy Americana label - while the pedal steel on You Saved My Life has a Nashville tinge to it, so too does the bassline recall '80s Australian post-punk; when he gives in and produces songs which hint heavily at roots in American tradition, such as the weary, directionless Jonesy Boy, the album comes closer to falling flat. McCombs' determined wriggling away from stereotypes which would confine his artistic vision, as well as his uniquely wry and observational lyrics, set him apart. Pigeonhole at your peril.