Goodnight Oslo

With R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and his touring partners Bill Rieflin and Scott McCaughey backing Robyn Hitchcock as the Venus 3, Goodnight Oslo is very much a band album. Though it's Hitchcock's songs and voice leading the circus, it's Buck's backing jangle guitar and the rhythm section's unassuming grace that brings these songs to life as if the foursome were caught impromptu in a comfortable living room kicking back a few beers and enjoying each other's company. "What You Is" uses a Creedence-like "Run Through the Jungle" guitar tremolo to signify the impending good time, while "Saturday Groovers" kicks in with spirited band interplay. However, as Hitchcock ages — he's been recording since the ‘70s — he's most effective on the songs that reflect back ("Goodnight Oslo," "Sixteen Years") or use a forlorn turn of melody to convey their tortured emotions ("I'm Falling"). He still enjoys the possibilities of love and language ("Intricate Thing") but he's most at home indulging in some pretty harmonies that make anything he says sound like the right thing to believe.