Folk-pop resurgence? Last decade,
Nick Drake was "discovered,"
Kristin Hersh suggested "quiet is the new loud,"
Billy Bragg and
Wilco made LPs from old
Woody Guthrie lyrics, and
Elliott Smith hit the movies. Yet, the genre seems bubbling now, after breakouts by
Shins,
Bright Eyes, and
Death Cab for Cutie -- all exquisiteness and depth. On this second LP by San Pedro bedroom-recording maestro David Jerkovich (also of
Kind of Like Spitting and
Ill Lit), who made
Pink nearly by himself, one is draped in folk's warm, translucent, light melancholy (plus a closing C&W gem). It's like
Smith's lighter touch,
Hersh's
Hips & Makers,
Bragg and
Wilco's "California Stars," or
Nico's somber "These Days." It's best when Jerkovich's piano and violin invade like welcome house guests, adding tenderness to acoustic guitars. And Jerkovich sings with a feather-like touch, as if to keep us from waking from his dulcet daydream -- even on a
Beyoncé cover. Ummm. ~ Jack Rabid