One Little Indian Us
2005
The Hustler
About This Album
Austin songwriter Jeff Klein steps out from the shadows on Hustler. Everybody Loves a Winner was distinctive in its rawness, in the sheer unapologetic darkness of its songs, as well as being somewhat similar sonically to the outings of his peers. Hustler, produced by former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli and veteran Mike Napolitano, is a giant step both lyrically and musically. These 12 songs contain within them an entire claustrophobic world, unseen by both casual observers or close friends. Klein charts the interior, the place where contradictions run rampant and are given uncensored rein inside the ravages of a broken heart that seeks to make itself insular, one who only negotiates the world by the richness of a solitary inner dialogue. This is the sound of last night's ashes and empty glasses on the bedstand after being betrayed and left by the Beloved. Recorded in New Orleans, Klein and Dulli have enlisted an impressive list of friends and comrades for this rock endeavor that holds its edges dear and flashes them like contraband. Ani DiFranco sings backup on "Pity," a particularly suffocating pop song driven by a synthetic loop, drenched in strings and atmospherics. She plays guitar on Stripped, an edgy, slow rocker that is a paean to the insufferable obsessive jealousy that consumes both people in a relationship.
Track List (try tracks 1,3 and 4)

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