Those Bastard Souls: Debt & Departure

Once a solo project for The Grifters' David Shouse, Those Bastard Souls now includes members of Shudder To Think and the Dambuilders, as well as superb guitarist Michael Tighe from the late Jeff Buckley's band. With such disparate membership and instrumentation—pianos and violins abound, the latter courtesy of the Dambuilders' terrific Joan Wasser—the finished product almost has to be a mess. In a way, it is. But it's nearly always compelling, not to mention multifaceted enough to reveal hidden layers upon multiple exposures. Inspired and informed by the death of Buckley, who was close with each band member, Debt & Departure is a strange and sad, moody and morbid rock record. It's also ambitious enough to be uneven, with songs like "Has Anybody Seen Her" straining to move beyond Shouse's limited vocal range. But that track may simply suffer more than others because it follows one of the year's most beautiful and hypnotic songs, the dramatic, dynamic "Telegram." Nothing on Debt & Departure can top that elegant gem, but highlights emerge, usually in such arresting, plaintive moments as the title track and the gorgeous, Wasser-driven "The Wake Of Your Flood." Debt & Departure is a sleeper: "Telegraph" aside, its treasures aren't immediately apparent, but they're plentiful.