This is legit one of the strangest things I’ve heard in some time and I absolutely adore it. Larry Wish is generally unpredictable, fusing weird, oozy vocal pop hooks with all sorts of varying instrumentation, but an album of spaced-out country covers? I’m not sure anyone else could pull this off. For “Love Hurts” we’re launched into a tender scene from an ‘80s horror movie before everyone gets stabbed to death. “If Teardrops Were Diamonds” sounds like an imagined future where heartbroken cowboys sit in ramshackle spaceships listening to this, crying into their Cadre Cola. What I love about Wish’s songs and approach is that there’s this earnestness and sincerity to it that’s infectious. In someone else’s hands this could easily come off as jokey or corny, but Wish unearths the real core of these songs and then blasts them through his own filter, pulling something truly delightful out the other side. He’s also one of hell of a singer. Stardust & Hurt is one-of-a-kind and I guarantee you won’t hear anything else like it this year. I love it so damn much.
