[rating=3.00]
Southern living is good living. Backyard barbecues, little league baseball, red clay dirt, and porch swings. The days are warm, the nights are warmer, and good vibes abound. Such is the mood conjured by Athens, Georgia-based singer-songwriter Adam Klein on his latest release, Wounded Electric Youth. Singing in a warm, rich voice and backed by near-perfect musicianship, Klein anchors these 12 tracks around an air of familiarity, providing the soundtrack for a day of southern, small-town sampling.
Klein echoes his alt-country influences-“Anna (It Was Supposed to be Me)” and “Griffin’s Song” breeze along like Steve Earle deep cuts, “Call My Name” and “Wayward Son” recall recent Son Volt, and the delicate wordplay of “Fairy Tale” brings to mind Josh Ritter. Klein also takes a couple of detours from the song’s rustic themes and peers into his protagonists’ wounded psyche who pine for lost love, last goodbyes, and final shots at redemption. It is with these themes that Klein’s lyrics ring truest, and the place where his arrangements, while sparkling and melodious, could use a darker approach more in tune with the song’s dispositions. Like his influences, Klein’s characters know that beneath the cheerful veneer of southern hospitality there is sometimes pain and longing that needs to escape. With Wounded Electric Youth, Klein illustrates this concept well.
