Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band

From the opening drums and roar of guitar, Outer South reveals more departures for Conor Oberst. After retreating to Mexico with the Mystic Valley Band for his first self-titled record, he shares songwriting duties and passes around the mic here. It proves the Mystic Valley Band (compared to Bright Eyes) is a "real" band, but not necessarily a better one. Even though the mixed bag of gutsy bravado and salty swagger occasionally devolves into lite-rock schmaltz, there's potential in a few Petty-inspired tunes by guitarist Nik Freitas ("Big Black Nothing"). Still, the best are all Oberst.

Last year, Conor Oberst set aside his long-standing Bright Eyes moniker and made a run for
the border, decamping to a Mexican mountainside to record his first album under his own
name. Conor Oberst was laid-back folk rock in love with the road and far from Bright Eyes'
rep for indoors-y shame sharing. Now, Oberst is covering more unknown territory by
splitting songwriting duties for the first time in his 15-year career. Written on tou... More >