Ascribed to
Daniel Ramono's Outfit
-- his longtime road band --
How Ill Thy World Is Ordered
is the staggeringly prolific Canadian artist's ninth release of 2020, and the most representative of his particular brand of midtempo, power pop-propelled, neo-prog Americana. Perched at the nexus of 2017's
Lee Hazelwood
-leaning
Modern Pressure
and the heady psych-folk of 2018's
Finally Free
, the 11-song set is a vibrant concoction of
Beatles
que countrypolitan ("A Rat Without a Tale") and lo-fi
E Street Band
grandiosity ("First Yoke") assembled with the enthusiastic, yet sometimes cursory precision of an amateur horologist. Lusty amp crashes, bursts of strings, and Brill Building backing vocals compete for sonic footholds, while
Romano
's verbose ramblings and antiquated vocabulary evoke
Ezra Furman
by way of
Walt Whitman
. The buoyant two-part "Joys Too Often Hollow" finds the sweet spot between the easy, open-road propulsion of the
Eagles
and the sunset melancholy of the
Grateful Dead
, while the kaleidoscopic "Drugged Vinegar" distills all of
's stylistic predilections into an art-rock funhouse, replete with narcotic tape loops, soulful horns, and a liquidy, ribbon-controlled analog synth solo. It's a lot to take in, but
's innate pop acumen provides just enough netting to deter the myriad moving parts from simply drifting off into the ether.
would feel like a grift in lesser hands, but there's no chicanery to be found here, only solid, smart songwriting with a little bit of rock & roll peacocking tossed in for good measure. ~ James Christopher Monger