One of independent music’s most visible pin-up girls, Neko Case has all the right attributes to make the indie boys swoon (pale skin! red hair! sultry voice! artistic integrity!), and besides being decidedly easy on the eyes, she’s also easy on the ears. Being both attractive and talented, she is difficult to resist in any setting; her rich, clear-throated trumpet of a voice would be a pleasure to behold even with the worst of cacophonies accompanying her. Middle Cyclone disappoints for nearly every aspect of it, save for Case’s voice (and the riotous cover artwork), and is puzzlingly substandard.
This proves all the more perplexing given the album features a smorgasbord of distinguished guest musicians, including members of Calexico, the Sadies, the New Pornographers (of course) and Lilys, as well as M. Ward and the Band’s Garth Hudson. Sonically, Case continues to branch out from the ever-so-slight experimentation she flirted with on her last studio album, 2006’s Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. While it worked to varying degrees on that album, here it fizzles, consistently marring the fragile beauty of the basic elements of Case’s sound—frugal drums, ringing guitars and, of course, her own siren twang.
