SPIRITUALIZED - Songs In A & E

The first thing one can't help noticing is how worn Jason Pierce's voice has become, the result of a 2005 brush with respiratory failure from which he has slowly recovered. It's a transformation severe enough to make certain songs on In A & E sound like the work of another singer entirely, especially on rimtap rocker "I Gotta Fire", where Pierce's raspy whine matches the wah guitar accompaniment like a modern Malcolm Mooney sparring with Michael Karoli. It's at moments such as this or "Yeah Yeah", when J. Spaceman's frailty is most exposed but he belts out a hearty rock'n'roll howl regardless, that these Songs are at their most vital.