Rating: Yes

Rehearsals for Departure

SubPop

Yes, it's urban folk, a label that Jurado is okay with, but most of the tracks from Rehearsals for Departure have a distinct rural feel. The CD opener, Ohio, featuring Jurado, his guitar and harmonica, begs comparisons to something off Springsteen's Nebraska album. It's a lonely road song, where our hero bids farewell to a lover on her way back home to a mother she hasn't seen in years. The lyrics, along with Jurado's warm, quiet, and rather flat vocals, exude solace.  The slide guitar on Tragedy is a gentle, luscious touch of twang that doesn't go overboard, while the CD closer and title track -- a trailer-park view of divorce -- will break your heart every time. Half of the CD is guitar-only acoustic numbers, while the other half features a full band, backing Jurado in heartfelt folk-pop rave-ups that'll either make you wanna dance or sing along.  Honey Baby, a rollicking lullibye of sorts, finds Jurado waking up next to his dreamgirl, asking, Is the first time, baby/ Is this the last time, well maybe.  Letters & Drawings, a light-hearted lament about waiting in vain, shares that same energy, as does the rocking and reflective Tornado. Throughout, Jurado is universally morose, reflective, sad and ultimately honest, showing pictures of lost love ingrained with a gritty reality of a world filled with men who work on their cars while their women search for proof that love really exists. Rehearsals for Departure is a pure pop-folk album that pulls you in with hooks and goes straight for your heart. Despiration never felt so good.

-- Tim McMahan

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Originally printed in The Reader April 8, 1999.

Copyright © 1999 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.