The Barmitzvah Brothers, “Agatha Read” (Mr. Bones’ Walk-In Closet, 2003)

[See post to listen to audio]

Neko Case, “Margaret Vs. Pauline” (Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, 2006)

[See post to listen to audio]

The titular character of “Agatha Read” is scruffy and unassuming and yet wise beyond her years, which is how I’ve always thought of the Barmitzvah Brothers. When I first encountered them in 2004, playing a barn-burning show at New York’s Sidewalk Café, they didn’t have many years between the three of them—drummer Johnny Merritt was 17, multi-instrumentalists Geordie Gordon and Jenny Mitchell were 18 and 19—and Mr. Bones’ Walk-In Closet was already a year old by then. Their solid musicianship and cunning way with arrangement on this album grant a compelling depth to the characters; far from your standard teenage antihero mewling about how parents just don’t understand, Agatha comes off as positively epic, striding down the block with a warm trumpet wind at her back. She moves through her world with grace and authority, confident that her talents will be appreciated one day. Neko Case’s Margaret isn’t quite so blessed—her musical backdrop is a beautiful one, but its brushed drums and crying pedal steel have a doleful quality better suited for shuffling one’s feet than walking tall. With a spirit broken by a lifetime of rotten luck, Margaret lives in bitter envy of the girl who got all the chances she missed; “Everything’s so easy for Pauline” is Case’s tragicomic answer to “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”

Sweet Jesus Christ almighty, go buy Neko Case’s new album on Tuesday. It’s been three years since Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, and I didn’t know if she could top it but she freaking did. No downloading, people; I’m all for using iTunes and eMusic and Insound to explore new stuff, but please do yourself a favor and experience this one on CD or vinyl if you can afford it. If you don’t believe me, go ask NPR:

Free NPR stream of Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone
(active until March 3)