Elvis Perkins in Dearland - The Doomsday EP

Elvis Perkins has never quite had another “While You Were Sleeping,” but his willingness to experiment is admirable, and here, on the Doomsday EP, he dips into everything from classic electric blues and rock ‘n’ roll (the somewhat generic “Stop Drop Rock and Roll”) to retro rhythm and blues (“Stay Zombie Stay,” which is just begging for a recurring “rollin’” from Ike Turner) to call and response (“Weeping Mary,” originally written in 1859 by J.P. Reese).

Doomsday is a bit lackluster on the whole, sort of done in good fun, perhaps compiled for kicks in spare time. But the musicianship of Perkins and his band is at its best when a little eerie, the EP opening and closing with “Doomsday” and six-minute counterpart “Slow Doomsday,” one influenced by polka and Dixieland jazz, its dreary end (the original version) like a tragic, drunken tale out of New Orleans. And on “Gypsy Davy,” where all sorts of minor details are best heard through headphones, those creaks and howls, Perkins’ James Taylor-meets-Jeff Mangum voice takes on a touch of a Judy Garland quiver from a slight distance. A little charming, a little tragic.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Slow Doomsday
Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Weeping Mary
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