Crooked Fingers – Dignity & Shame

Much like my 30th favorite album of the year, Crooked Fingers, “Dignity & Shame” got a lot of playing time on my ipod in the first half of 2005. Some people resist Crooked Fingers due to Archers of Loaf frontman Eric Bachmann’s vocal similarity to Neil Diamond or Bruce Springsteen. I personally think he’s a great songwriter, and love the stuff he’s done as a member of both Archers of Loaf and Crooked Fingers. Do you remember how awesome Icky Mettle was/is?

When Dignity and Shame was released by Merge this year I was instantly enthralled with the album. I love the way the album opens up slowly, then begins to gain momentum as the horns enter in. Then I saw them play at the High Noon Saloon in April. This show remains one of the best shows I’ve seen since moving back to Madison. My favorite songs on the album are ‘Valerie’ and ‘Sleep All Summer,’ and I was getting pretty nervous when they went through their entire set without playing either one; then something magical happend. The band came back out, but not on the stage. Right into the center of the crowd they went and performed both of my favorite tunes off the new album, and let me tell say that you could have heard a pin drop in the place. Here are a few pictures from that show:

Crooked Fingers – Sleep All Summer MP3

What the critics say:

Tiny Mix Tapes – 2/5
Metacritic.com – 73/100
Pitchfork – [6.5]

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