Visiter (2008)

Meric Long and Logan Kroeber build their astringent songs of love and faith (and the fruitless search for both) on the foundation of the powerful tom-tom. On Visiter, tracks like ''Ashley'' and ''God?'' are propelled by the tribal stomp of Kroeber's big booming beat; Long then pushes his wiry acoustic guitars deep into the mix and sings his literate lyrics (''You wrote me a note/The pages were blank/And I should have known/Invisible ink'') with a resigned catch in his voice. This is cerebral, twisted folk that's as wistful as it is strident. B+
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