Booker's debut was a masterstroke - it flirted with too-easy Starbucks hookiness, but was carried by flashes of observation and piercing moments of unfakeable, frantic energy.
But this followup doesn't quite escape that poppy orbit. His raspy vocals are a short tether that keeps all the songs in the same space, and an air of overproduction smothers all the gospel vocals and flickers of flourish.
There're brilliant moments - the opening two-parter's toothsome, and the title track's a heartbreaking double-entendre. But then its 4 lazy tracks till the proper stomp of Ovetime, and then 2 more duds before the deliciously too-short All Was Well and then --- holy fuck, we're already done here.
It's too safe, too thin on ideas and energy, a disappointing, understufffed effort from a kid who's obviously got a lot to say. Problem is nothing comes close to the stomp of Violent Shiver/Wicked Waters, nothing approaches the pathos of Slow Coming/Spoon Out My Eyeballs. Its a shadow living in a shadow; here's hoping Booker's got another chapter in him 3/5
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