Review: Big Thief’s ‘Capacity’ Is a Raw Folk-Rock Gem
Adrianne Lenker is a
romantic folk-rock poet of the first order – see “Watering,” which
uncovers unnerving beauty in lines like “my blood was dripping into his
mouth.” Her Brooklyn group’s second set is even prettier and more
intense than their 2016 debut, a mix of seductive and scary with lyrical turns that
rarely fail to surprise, even on repeated listens. One highlight is “Shark
Smile,” an impressionistic riff on rock & roll’s fantasy
space, about a mythic girl and a heap of cash with a pile-up of highway
metaphors. Funny, propulsive, queer, dissonant, and utterly intoxicating, it
gilds a record to put on next time some stooge tells you indie rock is dead.