This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Every decade seems to have its own version of Paul Westerberg.
In the ’80s, of course, there was the real thing. In the ’90s, we had the ersatz Replacements of Johnny Rzeznick and The Goo Goo Dolls. Now we have Pete Yorn, an L.A. troubadour with the same hoarse croak, the same fragile delivery, the same knack for introspective quirky balladry and flannel-shirt garage-rock. Only he adds a dash of Pavement’s slacker-pop and garage-noise to the equation. Musicforthemorningafter, his much-heralded debut disc, submits 14 catchy examples of this oddball hybrid, laced with plenty of sleepy twentysomething melancholy and set to slanted and enchanted garage-band tracks. It might not be the album of the year, but musicforthemorningafter will sound just as good the night before.
