13ghosts

This sprawling 21-track album is the work of the Birmingham, Alabama-based duo of Brad Armstrong and Buzz Russell, recorded with the help of twenty guest musicians. The tunes flow along like a dark folk-rock river, almost silent as it whispers over a bed of mossy pebbles, and aggressively noisy as it waterfalls over a jagged precipice. The tunes deal with death, loss, and the mysterious processes of life, each cryptic little message sounding like a note written while dancing along the edge of a cliff, pretending that the abyss isn't inches away. Not everything hits the mark, but making up for the near misses are tracks like "Wormhead, My Dear," a snarling fuzz-guitar dirge that morphs into a demented drum solo; "Toby Damnit, Part Two," a bright, poppy ode to drinking and driving; and the unsettling "The Trouble with Actual Organs," a quavering meditation on emotions about to go out of control.

Related Content

• Jacuzzi Boys Headed to Europe for 26-City Tour
  January 18, 2012
• Rick Ross Suffers Second Seizure Aboard Private Jet, Admitted to Alabama Hospital
  October 14, 2011
• Crocodiles Cancel Its November 3 Show at Grand Central and Rest of US Tour
  October 25, 2010
• ACLU Chief Howard Simon Recalls MLK and Bloody Sunday
  January 15, 2011
• Victoria Jackson's excellent Tea Party adventure
  January 26, 2012

More About

• Buzz Russell
• Brad Armstrong
• Birmingham (Alabama)
• Drunk Driving
• Crime