Following labelmate Jesse Malin’s success, twentysomething Jeff Klein’s take on warped American mores pitches up in a darker backwater. Opener “Everything I Alright” is a suicidal arsonist’s tale built around a grisly-lullaby keyboard loop and guest (and Klein landlady!) Patty Griffin’s back-ups. “If I Get To California” rocks like early Uncle Tupelo, and “Another Breakdown” is a huskier Ryan Adams. Klein’s ace in the hole is his careworn delivery and songwriting suss, and he proves here that 2000’s a claimed You’ll Never Get To Heaven If You Break My Heart was no accident.
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