Review:

on 2010-05-18 jakekingston Said:

Volume 1 was brilliant and completely unexpected. Even though there were a few tunes that didn't necessarily work (the four songs beginning with You Really Got A Hold on Me and ending with I Should Have Known Better), the songs that do work, more than make up for it. For this, and because I completely love Zooey Deschenal (sp?), I was highly anticipating Volume 2. Because Zooey was enticed to release her music from M. Ward, I was concerned that she would go the way of Fiona Apple and only release ONE FREAKING ALBUM A DECADE, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!! Sorry, I digress. This did not happen, and for that, I am pleased. Volume 2 unfortunately does not hold up to the alt-country/AM 50s relevance that Volume 1 does. Zooey's songs are just a little more precise, a little more "on-the-nose", and a little more perfectly produced. For every jangly off-kiltered guitar on Volume 1, is a California-inspired pitch-perfected guitar solo; for every lo-fi sounding piano riff on Volume 1, is a multitude of pop vocal background singers.

Volume 2 isn't necessarily bad, it just does not live up to the standard set by Volume 1. Where Volume 1 stayed in my CD tray for over a year and a half, Volume 2 was quickly replaced with Rufus Wainwright's new album after only a few weeks. But I still love you Zooey.
Rating: 7/10