Damien JUrado and Gathered In Song I Break Chairs (Sub Pop) Rating: NNNN Rating: NNNN
Alterna-folkie Damien Jurado’s best known as a less famous Elliot Smith. He rocks harder than usual on his newest effort, backed by his wicked Gathered in Song band. I Break Chairs includes a bunch of morosely sweet Haydenish love songs, but they’re balanced by jagged, feedbacking guitar rave-ups and bleached-out alt-country tunes — there’s even a quirky stripped-down drums-and-glockenspiel hoedown. Jurado’s a great raspy-voiced storyteller, cataloguing the dark details of the ordinary in delightfully wry lyrics.