Rent Money

For two decades, Pokey LaFarge has followed his own iconoclastic path: forthright, genuine, and never afraid to lay it all out there. Rent Money feels like another real step forward, and arguably his finest collection yet.

It works as both a heartfelt personal statement and a clear-eyed piece of social commentary. Twanging guitars, plucky rhythms, and captivating melodies give the record lift and swing, while those joyful refrains carry an undercurrent of worry that suits troubled times.

As ever, the Illinois native moves easily across genre lines, blending strains of 20th-century American music through earnest songcraft and subversive creativity. Rent Money stands as a high-water mark for LaFarge: a defining work from a one-of-a-kind artist with rare ingenuity and candor.