A Year in the Wilderness
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The ex-X frontman has tended more toward his twangy Knitters roots than LA punk in his solo career, but he finds more of a happy medium with A Year in the Wilderness, churning out a blend of barroom stomps and tender ballads that evoke vintage Replacements and acoustic Springsteen.
On recent efforts, Doe has enlisted the likes of Neko Case, Juliana Hatfield and Kristin Hersh to fill the parts Exene might have otherwise sung. Guests this time around include Kathleen Edwards, Aimee Mann and Jill Sobule. Edwards, in particular, shines on her three tracks, trading barbs with Doe on “The Golden State” (“You are the hole in my head/I am the pain in your neck”), spinning fragile harmonies on “A Little More Time” and belting out the soaring chorus of the hard-rocking “Lean Out Yr Window.” Doe mixes in a little pedal steel for the alt-country crowd, but also includes some funky, Doors-ish organ.
If the electric vibe of “Ghost Hotel” sets the tone for the album, the last four tracks are slow and slower, and the disc doesn’t so much end as it runs out of gas and rolls to a stop. But fans of any of Doe’s past work should find something to like here. –Patrick Donnelly