Matt Suggs spent most of the 90s as one half of lo-fi indie-rockers Butterglory, until that band fizzled out in 1997. Since then, Suggs has wandered out into a country field and returned with a basket full of farm-fresh songs. The tracks here rely on traditional instrumentation, building big, open melodies on Suggs' extremely catchy finger-work foundations. "Skeleton Blues in B Flat Minor" kicks off the album with an instantly hummable hook that perfectly defines the word "ditty". Knocking about from low-key footstompers ("Soon the Moon Will Glow") to bayou waltzes ("Farewell to a Tightrope Queen"), Suggs' approach is antique in feel, yet consistently fresh in execution. By taking standard structures and marrying them to heart-wrenching melodies, songs like the western-tinged instrumental "Rambler's Ride" stick to your fingers like honey, pleasant but troublesome. My personal favorite, "Western Zephyr," is an ode to a deceased wife; it rings with as much backwoods goth as the creepiest tales told ‘round the campfire. Lyrically, Suggs pays service to the blues by making sly commentaries on the frustrations of relationships, such as "I'm leaving your amusement park to watch the sun go down."

Despite the dark content of his words, Suggs' vocal approach is wide-eyed and almost innocent, making lines such as "with your ball of yarn unraveling" feel more like a harmless observation rather than a stinging condemnation. By embracing the roots of American music, Suggs has crafted what is easily his best album yet.