“If I knew heartbreak was coming, I would’ve set out running,” Neko Case sings in the first moments of her second album. Judging by the gorgeous “Porchlight” and the many more ache-filled ballads on Furnace Room Lullaby, she's not so good at evading breakups. Thankfully, the alt-country singer’s bold, rich voice seems custom-built for an old-school kind of hurtin’. Rave-ups with rough edges reminiscent of Case’s garage-rock roots, “Mood to Burn Bridges” and “Whip the Blankets” portray spikier reactions to love gone wrong.
More By Neko Case
- 2002
- case/lang/veirs
- Gillian Welch
- Rilo Kiley
- Billy Bragg & Wilco
- Hurray for the Riff Raff
- Laura Veirs