Regard the End
While lead singer and principal songwriter Robert Fisher is obsessed with folk archetypes--the drowned and the damned, murder-ballad ghosts, and gospel sojourners--and liberally taps traditional sources, these dark, forbidding songs aren't merely arcane or gothic. "Sufferings going to come to everyone some day," Fisher chants along withJess Klein, and we could only wish the song didn't speak to the here and now. Arrangements begin with folk-friendly guitar, mandolin, and violin, only to rise into soundscapes worthy ofLambchop, if notTricky. The 11 members (not counting seven guests) of this collective love eerie, organic atmospheres but they love melody even more. Slide guitar plays against grand piano, viola moans around melodica, and Fisher's voice--ranging from baritone to middle-of-the-earth--puts the sting, and even some redemption, back into his fatalistic visions.--Roy Kasten