SON, AMBULANCE/BRIGHT EYES
Oh Holy Fools (Saddle Creek)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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I never realized how tragically romantic Nebraska was as a subject until I heard Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes perform about a year ago, although I had noticed, when I was much younger, that talking about growing up in Nebraska to strange men in California was a sure way to get free drinks/laid. This is not to say that all the songs on this split LP-half Son, Ambulance and half Bright Eyes-are necessarily about Nebraska, but there's something about the melancholic delivery and particular references to playgrounds, winter, and the determination to cling to a childlike innocence that are inherently Midwestern, if not inherently Nebraskan. The two bands work off each other well, alternating tracks between them, and while there are plenty of similarities between the two, such as slow-paced, melancholic delivery, near-acoustic instrumentation, etc., there are enough striking differences between the two that there's no confusing which song is from which.

© 2001 - Holly Day