The first solo record by
Appleseed Cast
frontman
Christopher Crisci
is a
lo-fi
delight, strongly recalling
Neutral Milk Hotel
's early work, but not bound to
Jeff Mangum
's twitchy lyrical pose or occasional forays into weird for weird's sake.
Crisci
's voice and acoustic guitar are at the center of these ten songs (plus two brief untitled instrumentals), but the true star of the album is multi-instrumentalist
Jordan Geiger
, who throws trumpet, banjo, glockenspiel, a tinny-sounding toy piano and various other unexpected instruments into the mix. The album is roughly and noisily recorded; at times, the tape hiss and distortion seems to be another musical layer to the songs, as on
R. Stevie Moore
's '70s material, but even more so than
's most recent albums,
Early Morning Hymns
moves far away from the tortured
emo
stylings of that band's early records. It's not quite lighthearted, but a loose, casual sense prevails on the album that makes it an early and often more enjoyable listen than
's main group, and the best songs -- the
Elephant 6
-style
psych-pop
of
"The Blue Eleanor"
and the haunting, echo-filled
"7th Fret Closer"
in particular -- are among the catchiest
has ever recorded. ~ Stewart Mason