m ward - post-war

This is my first real encounter with M Ward, excepting a few stray shuffle encounters and his stint with the overhyped folk duo She & Him, who I had the pleasure of seeing live. (They immediately preceded Lil Wayne, and were practically booed offstage when they announced their last song.) This album is chock-full of proto-typical sunny California indie-pop, brought to life by M Ward's aching, bluesy voice eking out tales of longing that seem to float effortlessly out of him. The album flow just as easily, each song tied together by Ward's brilliantly layered acoustic workings as subtle percussion and vocal effects seep through the background. The result is music that is remarkably easy to listen to, yet never seems to sink into the banal regions of Jack Johnson-type bland beachy shit.

Ward's songwriting abilities cannot be understated. The album moves swiftly between styles, from the traditional folky lows of "Eyes on the Prize," to the instantly catchy pop tune "Magic Trick" (made famous by She & Him several years later), directly to the upbeat instrumental track "Neptune's Net," each song hitting it's intended emotional note and fading instantly to the next. Yet for all the variation he achieves on a track-to-track basis, Post-War as a whole is as fluid an album as you'll ever find, a well-rounded, well-crafted statement without a single wasted moment. It's a simple concept album: the War in question is a relationship, and this is his struggle at the end of it--as far as I can tell. In any case, it's a unified piece of indie deliciousness, music made for a lazy Summer afternoon, giving you just enough to make you think and feel but not enough to take you down off that cerebral 78-and-sunny high.

Or shit, you can strap this puppy in for a Summer thunderstorm at sundown, hang on to every tortured word that comes out of M Ward's mouth, think about lovers past and nonexistent, and cry your eyes out as the warm, indifferent rain falls around you. It'll work both ways.