Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Thursday
Reviewed by Doug Freeman, Fri., March 20, 2009
Elvis Perkins in Dearland
(XL)If Elvis Perkins' 2007 debut, Ash Wednesday, was mournfully tinged by the memory of his parents (actor Anthony Perkins and photographer/9-11 victim Berry Berenson), then his follow-up feels more like a proper celebratory wake. Perkins' funereal, imagistic pull still haunts the album, but bolstered into the Elvis Perkins in Dearland fourpiece, the eponymous LP lopes with a processional gait, especially the chain-rattling reverb of "I'll be Arriving" and New Orleans-styled horns and jug-band stomp of "Doomsday." Opener "Shampoo" yelps out a declarative, "Sweep up, little sweeper boy," as if in response to his debut's ashes and dust, while "I Heard Your Voice in Dresden" echoes Herman Dune's quirky folk-pop melodies, and "Send My Fond Regards to Lonelyville" repeats the nasally twang of Clem Snide. Aching with the vision of light finally glimpsed through the darkness, "Hours Last Stand" swoons a Southern soulfulness, allowing for the ultimate "123 Goodbye" and beautiful closer "How's Forever Been Baby." (Thu., Auditorium Shores Stage, 6pm; Central Presbyterian Church, 12mid.)