Counting Crows - August And Everything After

6.0 – USA – 1993

A decent enough collection of folk-rock tunes, but singer Adam Duritz’s voice is an insufferable overwrought nasal howl. The lyrics have novelistic pretentions, and Duritz likes to prove his “sensitivity” by writing from a female point of view. And when it comes to emoting, the word “understated” is absent from his vocabulary.

Man, this guy must’ve been a nightmare to break up with. Like, he’d probably cry a bunch, toss out some vague threats of self-destruction, and then he’d write some song about how much he understands the troubled girl he loves and he’d play it down at that coffee shop you like so you’re going to have to find some new place to go to now.

Anyway, the band itself is competent (you’d be impressed by them if you caught them at open mic night) and the production by T-Bone Burnett offers a credible if generic take on the folk-rock blueprint laid down by Dylan. Too bad the weakest link is your front-man/main song-writer.