Pitchfork

Former leader of the legendary American Music Club has gone solo, and has he ever. This new record includes twelve easy-listening, Eitzel-penned jazz standards (if you can believe that) sung Jon Secada- style. The new songs are just as depressing as the old, though, so there's no need to let your "tears fall like rain." On second thought, go ahead. These songs are bound to make you cry or, at the very least, feel really bad. Even all the people in the liner notes look bummed out. Join the party!

Lyrically, Eitzel's up to his usual lachrymose antics, spilling out his soul and emptying his diary with lines like "Streets long since flooded / With raindrops and heartbeats / And though Noah doesn't want me / He won't let me drown." Musically, while it does sound a bit like Secada, it sets a mood. This is a record you can go home and cry to after a hard day at the girlfriend's. And you can never have too many of those.