Counting Crows: This Desert Life

Keepin' the cult alive

For a band whose creative energy flows from one man, Counting Crows has done quite well for itself. Adam Duritz, the group's singer and primary writer, has inspired an obsessive following for his introspective, self-deprecating lyrics. With 10 new (and yet somehow not so new) confessionals about Hollywood, the rain, and other recycled themes, This Desert Life will keep Crows fans happy.

On This Desert Life, the band mostly abandons its earlier artsy orchestrations (though it still pulls out the strings and synths to sometimes-superfluous, sometimes-complementary effect) in favor of a folky, informal presentation. In the first song, "Hanginaround," Duritz sings about wasting time and sobering up against the backdrop of a garage band sing-along. But after this initial burst of "optimism," he settles back into stories of little-girls-turned-heroin-addicts and the sadness of "the black Ohio sky."

Throughout, This Desert Life remains upbeat enough to make it a good driving-on-the-highway album. However, things slow down midway with "Colorblind," a percussion-less song in which Duritz gives an emotional performance pleasantly distinct from his usual angst. Yet in the tradition of August and Everything After, the album concludes with a dynamic, bittersweet song that makes you want to "get into a car and drive."

While Counting Crows once again surprise with their ability to be more than just a rock band, This Desert Life fails to match its predecessors. It's neither as catchy as August nor as intense as Recovering the Satellites. Still, Duritz remains one of the few musicians who can simultaneously write tender lyrics and truly rock. This Desert Life may not be Counting Crows' masterpiece, but they still do more on this album than most bands ever achieve. (Geffen)

—Chuck Colman

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