Graham Lindsey - We Are All Alone In This Together (Spacebar) Graham Lindsey - The Mine EP (Spacebar) Back in 2006, Graham Lindsey packed up his guitars and dogs, and left his log cabin in the woods of Wisconsin. Back in civilisation, he got married and lived happily ever after. Yep, almost the exact opposite of the Bon Iver story, and I’ll bet the pension that the two new releases Lindsey has just put out wont have anything like the impact Mr. Iver’s did. Which is a shame because Lindsey’s paid his dues over the years - if you get the chance, check out his excellent 2003 debut, Famous Anonymous Wilderness - and neither his new full length or accompanying EP disappoint in any way. We Are Alone In This Together is the one that most will latch onto; it’s twelve tracks charting a course through choppy waters and emerging battered, though intact, at the other end. His timeless country sound, filtered through a musical history which includes adolescent punk bands, is earthy and flecked with real life experience. Highlights are plentiful and appear regularly. Opener ”Tomorrow Is Another Night” is chock full of regret and heartbreak, and comes on like Warren Zevon transplanted to the backcountry. “If I Ever Make It Home” is a sad appraisal of life on the road, or perhaps something more. “Big Dark World Of Hate And Lies” rattles along like an old timey carnival grunge band. The Mine EP, recorded at the same sessions, is just as good. At half an hour it would have been too long to tag on to the end of the album, and more than justifies a separate release. Of the half dozen tracks, “Come Gather Round The Mine”, tells its tale of death and destruction, at considerable pace, though the EP’s highlight, “Nobody Gonna Miss Me” could have been recorded at a Louvin Brothers session back in the ‘50s, had Ira skipped off to get shitfaced. www.myspace.com/grahamlindsey Rob F. Next