Search - Jeffrey Lewis & Jack :: City & Eastern Songs

The smartest thing I've heard in a long time

Arise Therefore | Orange, MA United States | 03/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's fantastic! It's a bit punk, a bit folk, a bit beat, and fun as heck! The folkier numbers are dense and introspective and at first seem a bit stream-of-conscience, but upon closer listening, they're too smart and sharp to be called that.

Any Will Oldham/Bonnie Prince Palace fan should own this for "Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror" a six minute story-song about meeting Will Oldham ("or at least I think it was Will Oldham") on the L train in the morning. Will responds to Jeffrey's questions a la "Sucker's Evening".

The busier numbers have a punkish tone, but are fun, not angry. One such number wonders where all the posters went that he put up the day before. Listening to this can transport me to different parts of Manhattan (Particularly the lower east side, where he's from). I love every minute of it. It was worth the money and the wait to get it shipped from the UK."

Smart lyrics-think dylan in a therapy session

John Boyce | Dallas, TX USA | 03/23/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"i head a song off this album called the will oldham horror on the music blog MusicForRobots, and fell in love with Jeff Lewis' lyric style. it kinda rambles on and on and is filled with the kind of refrences all mid to late twenty somethings can relate to. a few things to note about this cd:



1. the lyrics are brillant if you can get past jeff lewis' truly awful singing voice, he is alot like tom waits in this aspect.



2. the whole album has a very "indie" feel to it and by indie i mean very very lo-fi. again like his voice, if you can get past the ruff outer layer of the production you find that it is acutally that ruff production that gives the album an honesty that it might not convey other wise.



3. the folk songs are the truly brillant ones the lo-fi punks songs don't hit me the quite as hard but i think that is more my own taste than anything else.



all in all this album is worth your money if you love smart songs that are about being insecure in the life you have chosen."