Maybe this album should have been subtitled, “Something Pissed Off This Way Comes”. On “Pretty Nighttime Glimmers” John Crooke sings, “Holding my chances, I’m holding my tongue,” but that reticence is momentary.
Crooke is best-known as the leader of North Carolina band Jolene, whose career path has gone the predictable route of indie-to-major-to-indie (though this time Crooke owns the label). With that newfound autonomy comes the opportunity to record and release a record like this one. Full of vitriol and frustration, Crooke sings of broken promises and shattered relationships over a simply rendered background of acoustic guitar and the occasional instrumental flourish.
Crooke plays most of the instruments here, which on some tracks means just a lone acoustic guitar and his voice. His lyrics are as nonlinear, verbose and poetic as ever, but even through the metaphorical lyricism, one gets the distinct taste of the “recent unpleasantness” with Jolene’s former label, Sire, on the tip of his tongue.
The final track, “16c”, features the rest of Jolene, while “Pretty Nighttime Glimmers” benefits from the support of the Continental Drifters. These full-band numbers are balanced by some hauntingly beautiful, stripped-bare acoustic tunes such as the lullaby-like “Miranda Please”. Surrounded by an album’s worth of musical middle fingers, this track sticks out like the soul-searching centerpiece that it is, declaring that what really matters is your family and the relationships arising from it, not those of the big, bad, outside world.
