The other day I walked into the music store to harass my friend Adam Mast and ask him annoying questions about what kind of bands were going to do well this year. As we were chatting like a couple of pain-in-the-ass music store know-it-alls I commented on what was playing in his store, "Who the phuk is this - that Bright Eyes dude?" Adam stared at me like I was the simplest bastard that ever pulled on a pair of Levis, and patiently informed me that we were listening to the Cure. That's almost as bad as walking in with Sgt. Peppers playing and asking if this is the new "Oasis." I felt so lousy about myself that I went into the restroom, took out my safety pin and made myself bleed. Bad Dawg. Bad, stupid Dawg. I stayed in there for quite a while. It hurts to be so dumb.

Conor Oberst must have been experiencing some tough times himself, to write enough material for two full length simultaneously released albums. True, it has been quite a while since his celebrated last release Lifted, (this is where I have to confess to not really liking Lifted, nor understanding what all the fuss was about) but then again he has kept himself busy with his side projects, Desaparecidos plus another thing with Britt Daniel of Spoon. Anyhow, before I repent of my ways and sing the praises of I'm Wide Awake and it's Morning (I'll tackle Digital Ash in a Digital Urn in a separate review) let me take you back about four years ago, come on - it'll be good times. You're having fun aren't ya?

My first experience with Bright Eyes was several years ago when one of my emo roommates had some really old stuff from when Conor was like twelve (which my sources tell was probably his old band Commander Venus). I couldn't bear his cracked, balls-have-yet-to-drop screaming and decided to take that first impression and run with it. I decided then and there to never take him serious from that day forward. I know that is a bad thing to do, and I promise to punish myself for it, but it doesn't change the fact that his earlier work is mostly a lot of crap.

But now I'm wide awake and bleeding, and as I allowed my mind to open up and take in what Conor has to say (now that he's haired-over and growed up) I realized that this could be the future of music. I finally get the whole Bright Eyes thing that everyone's been so excited about, and dammit, I'm excited too. Now that my Eyes have been opened it's plain to see that a lot of serious thought has gone into the lyrics on this record, and there is a straight-from-the-diary flow to it that is much more authentic than Dashboard Confessional. He writes like he is telling a story, not just throwing-out random outbursts of emotion from his notepad to flesh out a verse. On "First Day of My Life," he sings, "but I'd rather be working for a paycheck than waiting to win the lottery" and on "Landlocked Blues," "you'll be free child once you have died. From the shackles of language and measurable time." These words right away stuck me as remarkable and layered as they are atop his most accessible and pop-oriented music to date, Oberst has basically recorded an instruction manual on how songs should be written. The famous Emmylou Harris lends her beautiful vocals to three tracks here, which, in itself, is reason enough to start taking this kid as seriously as he takes himself.