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Title: Mature and wry ... his best solo effort.
Review: Take your favorite tracks from "All Shook Down," mix with a liberal dose of Westerberg's post-Mats production technique, and then imagine the result as played by Paul, all alone, in the basement. Sad, occasionally hopeful, barbed and always clever, "Suicaine" outdoes "14 Songs" and "Eventually" before its first two tracks are up. "It's A Wonderful Lie," "Self-Defense" and "Actor In The Street" harken back to "Here Comes A Regular," "The Last" and "Talent Show" in tone and tempo without being the least bit derivative. Lyrically, Westerberg is aging well. Competing songsmiths will be borrowing phrases from this guy for years to come. I, for one, hope he continues to one-up them.
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