NO RECOVER (BLUE/BLACK SWIRL VINYL)

Eric Bachmann of 2018 seems to view life with a sort of disgruntled maturity
and righteous resignation. No Recover is both harrowing and beautiful, and
its mellowness can be deceiving. The album is mostly just him, a classical
guitar, some treated rhythm tracks, and otherworldly drop-ins from singer
Avery Leigh Draut and guitarist Eric Johnson, Bachmann's old pal from their
Archers of Loaf days. He's got a lot on his mind, only some of it pretty.
The sunset on the album's cover might be the end of a cruel world for
the duo in "Jaded Lover, Shady Drifter," who introduce No Recover; they
feel like flip-side lovers, both sonically and lyrically, of the couple at the
center of Bring On the Snakes' "The Rotting Strip." But that dark sentiment
is quickly reversed with "Daylight," one of Bachmann's most stunning
vocal performances ever: For a guy who earned his stripes by shredding his
vocal cords in the '90s, he sure can croon. And though the words cast some
shadows-"fight for your life," he implores-ultimately there is hope. "If you
try, you can be loved."