Peter Case
Torn Again (Vanguard) (star) (star) (star)
The former Plimsouls leader’s second album for Vanguard is a largely unplugged collection of closely observed stories and literate portraits of outsider characters and victims of one kind of violence or another (“Baltimore,” “Wilderness”). They are highlighted by enthusiastic musicality–Case plays 6- & 12-string guitar and harmonica–and heartfelt readings of the material. Radio stations that feature Americana music (and there aren’t enough of them) will find plenty to choose from here, including the wrenching story of a woman at risk in “Turnin’ Blue,” the bouncy “A Little Wind ” and the moralistic “Blind Luck.” Last year’s “Sings Like Hell” took a more stripped-down approach, with Case singing personal folk and blues favorites, and it’s worth a listen, as well.
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