Aw Come Aw Wry

Phosphorescent received a warm critical reception for their 2004 EP The Weight of Flight, drawing comparisons to Will Oldham, Neutral Milk Hotel and Bob Dylan. Aw Come Aw Wry, their second full-length, further refines songwriter Matt Houck's eccentric Southern aesthetics, and manages to work a ragged batch of off-kilter, sometimes rowdy ballads into an intriguing album that sounds as familiar as it does experimental.

Houck's voice, full of drawls and cracks, may never escape comparisons to Oldham, but as was the case with their two previous releases, Phosphorescent do more than merely tread among the Southern alt-folk canon. Houck takes some artistic license on Aw Come Aw Wry that adds a sense of inspiration to a sound that is steeped in tradition, even if some of the album's detours seem slightly off track.