Norfolk and Western have recently been touring as M. Ward's backing band, and in the process they seem to have soaked up some of the cutesy Olde Americana stylings that so crippled the spectacularly talented Ward's last album. It's certainly not badly done, but it's also not at all to my taste -- you can see if it's to yours by checking out "The Gilded Age," the title track from the band's new release. I much prefer them in the hushed, quiescent mode of "Impossible" (from 2003's "Dusk in Cold Parlours"), or on the new "A Voice Through the Wall," also from "The Gilded Age."
-- T.B.
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