Jim O’Rourke – Simple Songs (Drag City)

Jim O’Rourke – Simple Songs (Drag City)

Even with Jim O’Rourke’s background in jazz and post-rock, naming his first pop album in 14 years Simple Songs comes off as sardonic as his lyrics. Standouts “Friends With Benefits,” “Half Life Crisis,” “Last Year,” and “All Your Love” are all one part wildly adept singer-songwriter exercises, one part intricate puzzles set to unravel and burst into passages that are, yeah, transcendent. There’s a precise lived-in quality throughout — suggested sprawl and raggedness, all meticulously arranged. The end result is just about a perfect album, and something we didn’t necessarily think we’d receive: one more transmission from O’Rourke’s twisted, alternate history visions of classic rock. –Ryan

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