Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst

Rating:

* * *

After a rapid 10 albums in 13 years under the Bright Eyes band sobriquet, crit-fave American indie star Conor Oberst has finally gone out under his own name.

Which doesn't mean it's any more autobiographical than its already introspective predecessors.

Though it does lean towards songs propelled by just Oberst's voice and acoustic guitar. And the more minimal the approach among these dozen tracks, the more pleasing the results. The country-rock efforts tend to undercut Oberst's image-heavy lyrical efforts with some fairly uninspired ambling, though the boogie-woogie rocker

I Don't Want To Die (In A Hospital)

suggests a Joe Strummer-Violent Femmes collision that is sure to pep up Oberst's live encores.

But's it's the simpler singer-songwriter stuff - like opener

Cape Canaveral

, the politically-minded

Lenders in the Temple

and the hushed finale

Milk Thistle

that remind best how good a song craftsman Oberst is, whatever name he's operating under. And just how he still deserves that "new Dylan" tag more than anyone of his generation.

Russell Baillie