City Mouse f / Lucero

This must be one of the more unique (can anything be more unique?) releases to grace my stereo this year. A poet/storyteller teaming up with the most revered alt-country band around might seem like a swell idea that could either turn out as a let-down or really interesting. The Stories of City Mouse manages to do both.

Here's the good part: City Mouse is a great storyteller. In fact, this 7" comes with a couple of his stories and they're great reads with a good mix of humor and creativity. At times, especially on the second track, "New Year 2005," he comes across slightly like Mitch Hedburg in that he strings together short, mostly unrelated statements, although instead of relying only on humor he throws in a heavy dash of bitterness.

While the tracks are unique, and adding Lucero to the background certainly doesn't hurt, I can't help but say that I enjoy Lucero songs more than Lucero's instrumentals with City Mouse speaking over top. This certainly is not a "Lucero project." Fans of the band are going to be into it because it's got Lucero on it, but don't expect a whole lot coming from their end. However, it is an interesting project and being on 7" format makes things like this more affordable. But to be honest, I much more enjoy the City Mouse stories that come in print form with the release than the ones he tells on this 7." Then again, I might be more goon than poet.