This one has, inexplicably, taken me a while to write; so I'll just get the punchline out of the way right off the top. I've been listening to Allison Crutchfield's Merge Records debut, Tourist in This Town, for the last two or three weeks; and I absolutely love it. The album mixes incisive songwriting, expert production, and occasional hints of Crutchfield's pop-punk past into one of those albums that I know will become a "Goto" for me, one of those albums that I can pop on at any time and listen to without skipping a track.
I've written this here before; but, just to recap: Allison Crutchfield started out playing in bands with her twin sister, Katie, when the two were in high school in Alabama. The Ackleys and P.S. Eliot produced some much-beloved output; but, as the sisters grew older, they started branching out into their own individual projects. Katie went on to record and perform as Waxahatchee; and Allison co-founded the pop-punk band Swearin', who made a couple of flat-out excellent albums.
Following the demise of Swearin', Allison Crutchfield self-released a solo EP, Lean In To It. That EP was a departure from Crutchfield's previously guitar-centric pop-punk. Synth-heavy and slower-paced, it revealed Allison Crutchfield to be an honest and deeply personal songwriter.
OK. Now. Tourist in This Town is like the beautiful realization of what Lean In To It was trying to be. Crutchfield worked with producer Jeff Zeigler of whom she says, “His arsenal and knowledge of analog synths, along with his ear for spatial addition and subtraction within a song, really sculpted this album and impacted me artistically forever.” And from the unaccompanied vocal opening on "Broad Daylight" to the rolling drums and guitar hook that underpin album-closer "Chopsticks on Pots and Pans," Tourist in This Town features an expansiveness that just wasn't there on the earlier solo record. The synths, too -- eventually present on both of those songs and throughout the album -- enhance the overall feeling of space and airiness. Sometimes, like on single "Dean's Room," things sound like vintage post-punk. On a track like "Sightseeing," things have more of a dream-pop feel. In all cases, Crutchfield's voice has room to work some magic.
Thematically, Tourist in This Town, keeps coming back to relationships that have ended or are in the process of ending. It opens with the line "When the light we once saw in each other flickers and fades" on "Broad Daylight." It moves through thoughts of escape on "I Don't Ever Wanna Leave California" or relationship claustrophobia on "Sightseeing" to a newfound sense of independence on "Expatriate."
From those song titles -- and the album title, for that matter -- it should be clear that travel is also a recurring metaphor. Crutchfield logged lots of miles touring with Waxahatchee, and the ideas of movement, isolation, and adjusting to new surroundings find their way into many of the songs.
And I have to come back again to Crutchfield's voice. It has the haunting beauty of American roots music, but it also has an edge. When Crutchfield is delivering a line like, "And you're blaring Nebraska while she tortures you from a mile away," she lands it with stinging precision.
So, yeah. I really like this one. I'll listen to it again and again. And again.
And, even though I'm about a week later than I wanted to be in getting this one out there, my timing is pretty good. Allison Crutchfield and her band, The Fizz, will be playing Jersey City's Monty Hall on Monday, February 6th, and Brooklyn's Sunnyvale on Thursday, February 9th. Both of those shows will be with Radiator Hospital and PINKWASH. I'll be at one. Maybe both.
Tourist in This Town is out now on Merge.
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