Scott Kelly & The Road Home Eternal

Neurosis fella Scott Kelly is back with a new trio and they're playing some kind of slow acoustic stuff. It starts out really promising with an earthy droning cello and resonant guitar twinkling, but the vocals are bizarre, a husky sneering croon delivered at just above a whisper, but very present in the mix. I'm finding them a little distracting and slightly comical, but the hangdog Americana atmospherics are rather stirring.

Over on the other side 'Catholic Blood' gives us more slo-mo country sadness, and the vocals are making a bit more sense to me on this track, sometimes descending into formless growly moans like Tom Waits on his earlier weepy numbers. This is doom-paced blues for weary souls. I prefer the B side but both songs have things going for them.