Cervenka keeps it short, sweet and simple on this one. The miminal,
everybody-up-front production quality suits the
brief-to-the-point-of-haiku songs. Most of the tracks feature
Cervenka’s own strum-a-strum guitar with some light strings, bass and
drums. The opening track, “Trojan Horse,” is a bouncy number that
wouldn’t be out of place on a Donna the Buffalo album but with deeper,
less upbeat lyrics. “Why Is It So” has a Kimya Dawson-like
straightforwardness. “Walk Me Across the Night” is right out of the
jukebox in a malt shop frequented by poets and philosophers, and
“Fevered Paper” has a lightness and transparency that belies its
apocalyptic imagery.
The only non-original, folk staple “The Willow Tree,” is one
autoharp away from a Carter Family tune, with Amy Farris contributing
some sweet fiddle and harmony vocals. Album closer “Pinpoints” is a
dramatic number that takes a page from Desire–era Dylan,
with Joe Terry’s rolling piano arpeggios and Farris’s sweeping gypsy
viola putting a decisive ending on it. Cervenka has always been a
wordsmith, and this is no departure for her. The lyrics are evocative
and elegant, even if they don’t always scan musically. Her voice
throughout has a vulnerable quiver and occasional slip of tonality that
gives the lyrics an added urgency. A stronger voice might shatter these
crystalline structures. It’s the precariousness that keeps you
listening. — Peggy Latkovich
This article appears in Oct 7-13, 2009.
