Customer Reviews

I Never Even Asked for Light

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I LOVED Lullaby's previous release, Blanket Warm, and at first I couldn't grasp "I Never Even Asked For Light." Now, however, both are equally amazing. "Light" has a more aggressive edge, but the same dark poetry and complex accoustic instrumentation. "Hypnotist" contains my favorite Lullaby lyric: "I dreamt I was a firefighter, but the flames were never real. I dreamt I was an engineer, and I designed it dear, the world's perfect treadmill. I dreamt I was a hypnotist, a farmer and an architect, a poet and an acrobat. I dreamt the flames were real." Original and beautiful, as is the whole album.

I got this album when it came out and I am still returning to it, especially late at night after a few too many beers. This is chamber pop at it's most inventive and it set the stage for what was to come with Saddle Creek's releases. I still think that when this band hit their highs that no one else could or has followed them...and this album is full their highs. Highly intellegent lyrics with a deeply emotional delivery fronts a backing band of glockenspiels, banjos, cellos, guitars, organs, drums and dulcimers. Sort of "post-alt.country rock" if you had to try and fit this band into one of the many pathetic genres that critics self-invent. But the beauty of this album, and it is beautiful, is that it owes as much to Talk Talk as it does to Uncle Tupelo...and sounds totally unlike either. This is an original work that is not only great in and of itself, but is important in setting the stage for what was to come out of Omaha and a little label called Saddle Creek.

Acoustic guitar driven melodic rock is the style on this Lullaby cd.
The sounds will wash over you. The album can be rough in some spots, mostly in some semi sour notes hit by the singer, this is not near enough to truly stand out as a problem with the album. The introspective lyrics for some reason make these sour notes turn the album even more real to me for some reason. Additional accompnyment by a plethora of instuments rounds out the sound to make this a very full sounding album.
I came to this band by way of watching the Spend An Evening With Saddle Creek. I am pretty sure the main singer is the leader of the Saddle Creek band Mayday. I will definately be checking them out.
I like the Lullaby cd, and would suggest it to anyone. If you are looking for something similar, try the Good Life.
Me Likey!

While I still prefer Blanket Warm overall, I was impressed with the dimension that the more aggressive songs (e.g., The Hypnotist) add to the picture this lush music paints. I think this album is missing the narrative element of Blanket Warm and is a bit less consistent, but nonetheless I recommend the second album from these midwestern minstrels highly.

This sharp-dressed four-piece from Lincoln, Nebraska write songs about "serenading the sky under an audience of seagulls" and their impressive second album boasts a range and variety of compositions and arrangements which you would never expect from the "alternative country" label. I Never Even Asked For Light is a remarkably rich collection of songs about self-delusion and despair, full of characters who fly too close to the sun, wrapped up in hauntingly beautiful melodies. The all-acoustic instrumentation doesn't prevent them rocking out and generating a big noise on tracks like Hypnotist, but mostly the mood is one of quiet contemplation, echoing through folk ballads of the highest order such as the Man Vs The Tide suite. Sounding like nothing else you've heard, and with songs full of juicy lines like "Anchors away - these Euclidean minds are our ball and chains" (and you'd be surprised how hummable that is), this is one of the most unlikely, but rewarding, growers of the year.

Great listening. Good production with inventive orchestration