12 Desperate Straight Lines

when telekinesis mastermind michael benjamin lerner set out to record the songs for the follow-up to his debut album telekinesis!, he found himself with no band, a case of vertigo, and a wrecked van. his second attempt at recording led him from rainy seattle to portland and jackpot! studios, where he once again hooked up with chris walla (death cab for cutie, the decemberists): again it was walla who recorded the songs straight to tape, no-frills style, and on top of producing and mixing them he even lent some of his songwriting skills to the new album ('gotta get it right now'). wait. did we just say analog tape? yep: lerner is old school like that. the outcome of these sessions is '12 desperate straight lines', twelve new songs of heartache, anger, and even a little hopefulness; songs that instantly hit you with lerner's trademark melodies and his colossal knack for writing powerful and catchy (indie) pop nuggets. thanks to bigger production, they're even more addictive than last time around.