Ex-Soul Coughing lead dovetails his group and solo work

Mike Doughty’s had a solo career that’s long enough to nearly obscure his years as lead singer of Soul Coughing. His latest reels back in the guitar, bass, drums and keyboard layers of last year’s Golden Delicious, and though his acoustic guitar is the dominant instrument here, he doesn’t retreat fully to the sound of his solo debut Skittish. His syncopated strumming and vocals hold down the center with the usual level of energy, and there are low string drones that add weight, drums to further propel the beat, and some twangy trills, skittish violin notes and sonic washes that make this more than rock reduced to folk. Doughty not only returns to guitar-and-voice centered productions, but also the beat-rap poetry style he favored earlier in his career.

Doughty’s lyrics include lost and reconsidered love, introspective questioning and optimistic possibilities, and stretch out to carefully constructed rhymes and elliptical couplets. The latter flow smoothly, but leave their deeper meanings for listeners to decide; it’s enough to make one long for an annotated lyric sheet. College DJs should track down the Hombres’ “Let it All Hang Out” for a good segue with Doughty’s “Pleasure on Credit” (though you’ll need to watch out for the s-word 32-seconds in). Twelve originals and a cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Caspar the Friendly Ghost” will please fans of Doughty’s early solo work, and fans of his earlier work with Soul Coughing will happily welcome his lyrical and sing-rap style. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

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