Because John Darnielle is more an enunciator than a singer, his literary
tapestries depend on visceral performances to draw you in. So
edge-rounding production comes at a cost: While the cellos of ''San
Bernardino'' are sublime, many of Heretic Pride's opaque lyrics are buried
under prettified blandness. Mercifully, the comic strip Darnielle
created with cartoonist Jeffrey Lewis, at thejeffreylewissite.com,
explains each song (turns out ''Sept. 15,1983'' is about reggae star
Prince Far I), making for a more rewarding experience. B
DOWNLOAD THIS: ''San Bernardino''
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.