| Chris Mills |
Alternative Folk
"Some Depression" might be the right term for Chris Mills's languid, pedal-steel-tinged rock. This Chicago-based singer-songwriter has a good bit of the alt-country vibe in his mournful ruminations on lost love and other miseries, but he takes his cue more from Wilco's Jeff Tweedy than from Son Volt's Jay Farrar in that he's willing to let a wide variety of musical styles influence his work. Songs such as the twangy "Fall," which contains the terrific-sounding phrase "All the junkies in Kentucky," show off his knack for writing back-roads country rock, but that's not all Mills can do. He can also pull off wonderful experiments like "Signal/Noise," which blends '50s-style sha-la-la-la pop with wistful lyrics and acoustic instrumentation. It's a good trick and one of the many that give Kiss It Goodbye the sparkle this genre badly needs. We can't be sad all the time, after all. Amy Weivoda
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