Album Review

Conner Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band – Outer South

• 21st May 2009

Conor Oberst and his Mystic Valley Band find rare form on their second full-length outing in two years, Outer South. The prolific singer-songwriter has crafted a luscious collection of hooky, emotional numbers with a talented band keeping things interesting, and no shortage of big choruses to get behind.

“Slowly (oh so slowly)” is a fine way to start an album; a no-nonsense bit of country rock with a great band sound, while the vocals and lyrics are resolutely Oberstian. “Air Matress” is another highlight, a delightful bratty, bouncy pop song that recalls the Ramones at their most irreverent. Oberst isn’t one to hog the limelight and anyone expecting the Mystic Valley Band to be nothing more than a solo artist’s prettily-named backing will be proved wrong; the singer has allowed his pals numerous songwriting credits and lead vocal duties on the album. Jason Boesel’s “Difference is Time” alone vindicates the frontman’s willingness to collaborate; for a few minutes, Boesel stands toe-to-toe with Oberst as a songwriter with his forlorn and bittersweet love story.

It’s a consistently tuneful record that chops and changes between low-key acoustic-y stuff and livelier rockers, all very well written and produced. What Oberst and Co. have really achieved here is to find the truth behind the cliché of the song that sounds like it could have been written forty years ago. The sound of Outer South may not be particularly original (and wouldn’t have been forty years ago for that matter), but the sheer quality of the songs sets it apart.