Little Private Angel

An album-length collaboration between Jack Logan and Weird Summer frontman Bob Kimbell, Little Private Angel heralds a creative breakthrough for both participants, with each seemingly inspiring the other on to new musical heights. The joint venture proves so ideal because it plays to the strengths of both, with Kimbell contributing the tunes and Logan adding the lead vocals and lyrics; the latter's boozy croon and somber lyrics have never before been couched in such fully fleshed pop melodies, while the former's songs have never supported the kind of vocal and verbal gravity that are Logan's stock in trade. Even the right emotional balance is struck, navigating deftly between the lighthearted ("Frozen Rope" is an evocative baseball narrative, while a musical quote from "Leader of the Pack" distinguishes the title track) and the downcast (the pathos of the opening "Four Men in a Car" cuts with vivid intensity, and the desperation of "Nerves of Steel" is similarly palpable); equally noteworthy are Logan and Kimbell's harmonies, which make even the record's grittiest moments easy to swallow. Here's hoping their paths cross again soon.