Songs of Shame

This side project of Brooklyn indie rockers Meneguar is a more stripped-down alternative to that band's Archers Of Loaf-isms, although not in the Bon Iver wilderness-opus sense. SHAME is largely comprised of lo-fi sweetness ("The Clean") and occasional psychedelic warbles ("Echo Lake"), by turns replicating woozy death ballads ("Where And What Are You?") and simplifying Pavement's twisted tunefulness ("Rain On"). At times, they even approach Peter Bjorn & John's canny catchiness ("Gypsy Hand"). But at their finest moments, such as "The Number," the trio achieves SONGS' most desirable effect: nakedly affecting neo-folk.