[photogallerylink id=76085 align=left]On the Lollapalooza roster for 2011, [lastfm]Bright Eyes[/lastfm] is an indie band that lies somewhere on the scale between folk and punk, on the punk side of [lastfm]Neutral Milk Hotel[/lastfm] and the folk side of [lastfm]The Violent Femmes[/lastfm], with a whole lot of sadness about the general state of life thrown in. The newest [lastfm]Bright Eyes[/lastfm] album (and according to front man Conor Oberst, the last), The People’s Key, moves even further away from that folk ascetic, finding a sound that is more traditionally indie and a bit more rockin’, putting this album somewhere on the indie side of [lastfm]The Strokes[/lastfm]‘ Is This It. But it’s still Bright Eyes, with Oberst’s distinctive voice and misunderstood yearning leading a plethora of instruments to create a sound that is both new and old for the band.

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And the lyrics are as stellar as ever, woven throughout the songs perfectly are lines like “How sad it is to know I’m in control” (from Track 7 on the album: “Triple Spiral”) and “Now you are how you were when you real” (from the album’s Track 4: “Approximated Sunlight”). Here, once again, are lyrics rich with Oberst’s deep understanding of an anxiety ridden world and saturated with his own intense state of sadness. The best example of the album’s lyrical brilliance lies in Track 9: “The Ladder Song,” which is also the album’s saddest and most hopeless (and most beautiful) track. Other stand-outs are “Firewall,” with its profound spoken word intro, and the more folk-ly “more traditionally Bright Eyes” “A Machine Spiritual.”

Track List
1. Firewall
2. Shell Games
3. Jejune Stars
4. Approximated Sunlight
5. Haile Selassie
6. A Machine Spiritual (In the People’s Key)
7. Triple Spiral
8. Beginner’s Mind
9. Ladder Song
10. One for You, One for Me

Key Tracks: “Shell Games” “Haile Selassie” “Triple Spiral” “Jejune Stars” (features some sweet double bass)

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