Peter Case by Peter Case (CD, Aug-1992, Geffen Goldline)

Peter Case is probably one of the best unknown artist of the singer/songwriter genre. His former band, The Plimsouls, were a minor underground success during the new wave era of the eighties, but it is here, on his first solo recording, that we are introduced to the beauty and passion found in his musicianship. Produced by T Bone Burnett (producer and husband of Sam Phillips and the archivist for many of the Coen Brothers movie soundtracks) the twelve tracks found on this recording are impeccable. From beginning to end, the songs flow through the mysteries and the histories of the American heartland with such vocal vigor and instrumental integrity that anyone with a hankering for alternative country music will find this album a "must have" in their collection. Lyrically, Case has his finger on the pulse of a western civilization that is in decline. At times Case is the master of metaphors and at other times he is blantantly profound. Whatever the case my be (pun unintended) Peter's songs are a testament to the losses of love, life, liberty and leisure found when one finally realizes that the American dream is really a nightmare. From the opening song, "Echo Wars" to the closing song, a cover of The Pogues "A Pair Of Brown Eyes," the music reverberates a clear vision of poetry in motion.