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New York and Adam Green go hand in hand. He couldn’t come from anywhere else. His consistently beautiful anti-folk will be listened to in 30 years by ambitious teenagers dreaming of moving to the big apple and following a dream of bohemia.
This, his sixth record, weaves cool Strokes beats with a grown-up, almost crooning, vocal. 'Goblin'’s Mexican sunshine rhythm and cigarette-soaked Lou Reed voice shouldn’t work. But Green doesn’t believe in shouldn’ts. Only that you should experiment more.' What Makes Him Act So Bad' couldn’t sound anymore like Velvet Underground even if it had a breathy Nico all over it.
The Adam Green lesson in grown-up folk hasn’t entirely moved on from his immature Moldy Peaches roots. And thank God for that. The garage-scuzz of 'Oh Shucks' aches for Kimya Dawson, but the kid is on his own these days. And solo, he’s pushing far ahead of his New York anti-folksters.
You think you’ve sussed the soothing and mature 'Minor Love' with its Velvet's and Leonard Cohen timeless inspirations, but then 'Lockout' arrives and the intrigue returns. A Shaft-esque bass plays and every thing is different again. Green’s final throw of the dice 'You Blacken My Stay' shows why Green is still one of the most original artists around. The Johnny Cash voice is a natural progression for the former Peach, somehow. And that’s the thing with Adam Green. Somehow. Somehow everything works. Somehow he’s come up with one of the most original records in months. But somehow it sounds timeless. And somehow you’ll be listening to this for years to come.
