Turn Around, Bright Eyes!

My apologies, but I’m not feeling the new Bright Eyes releases: not the Four Winds EP or the full-length Cassadaga.

Of course, I’ve never been a Conor Oberst fan. “When The President Talks To God” struck me as a complete shark jump, his charm curdling into endless pouting. If these new releases are any good I still can’t get past that impression.

The Onion AV Club tries to be kind, but saying that the full album has “the loose, rootsy feel of … Tom Petty” is a dodge at best and a lie at worst. (Tell me, what is the “rootsy” Tom Petty album? Southern Accents, with its electronic drums and sitar?) Club commenters are far less kind: “Does he cry at any point on these releases?”

Harsh words, and I have no right to repeat them. After all, when Bright Eyes was last in the public eye, I was listening to this band instead:

Shake your coconuts!