Lullaby For The Working Class: Song

Nebraska's Lullaby For The Working Class first stirred attention in 1996 with Blanket Warm. The album's caveman-like title belied a complex sound that mixed Palace's take on traditional American music with the loose, dramatic song structures of Low. The too-similar 1997 follow-up, I Never Even Asked For Light, proved less eye-opening, but Song finds the band returning to form. Ted Stevens' vocals and Mike Moogis' guitar still serve as Lullaby's focus, but this time a greater emphasis has been placed on string arrangements, often recalling music for a film score. The results are awfully effective: Still eschewing traditional song structures, the group propels the album through an internal sense of drama. Moogis' new discovery, the pedal steel, is particularly welcome, blending with the strings and nicely complementing Stevens' vocals. Like its spiritual kin in Lambchop, Lullaby For The Working Class has an uncanny knack for blending elements of country with those of chamber music, creating an almost ambient sound that still demands attention: When Stevens and company speed up a bit, as on "Kitchen Song," the results are almost hypnotically propulsive. But as with its predecessors, Song showcases a band that's just as comfortable staying quiet: The record closes with more than seven minutes of sustained, low-volume feedback (crickets did the honor on Blanket Warm) without breaking the mood at all.