Richard Buckner - Our Blood

There's been a lot of Buckner on the house system at JS-NYC as of late. That is a slippery slope of a statement, as it could speak to wildly different states of mind. Buckner has one foot in the depths and the other in euphoria and for better, I'd say, the more up stuff has been prevailing in the playlists. As such, I was more excited than usual for a new Richard Buckner record. The last couple seemed a little meandering to me and haven't really struck a chord with me like Bloomed or Devotion & Doubt. That said, I'm pleased to report that I really dig Our Blood. 

Buckner's been with Merge for a bit now and it seems to be a good fit. Why, in light of that, he would move to Kingston, NY is beyond me, but regardless, my old stomping grounds has not exactly rolled out the red carpet for the new guy. A spate of bad luck forced the bulk of Our Blood to be recorded three times after a black comedy of machine failure and thievery stymied each previous effort. I feel for our Richard, but it seems to have fostered his best record in a long time. Nine songs in total, each titled with a single word and presented in warmly unadorned form. I'll go with Confession as my favorite currently, although I can't say I'm crazy about the overly layered chorus vocals. Regardless, there are four or five more easily as solid here, so don't hesitate in any way, shape or form to pick Our Blood up with the quickness here from Merge. Find Sir Richard of Kingston here.

R