Jackleg Devotional to the Heart

Immensely satisfying. [Jul 2013, p.92]

It's the rather unhinged propositions that sends chills in the warmest way, much like Will Oldham's timelessly classic mid-'90s output. [No.99, p.52]

Notably looser is ‘Oblivion Overture’s classical, Fantasia-esque take on earlier track ‘Oblivion’, while ‘Morning Of My Life’ finds a softer side to Flemmons’s nasal vocals, accompanied by little more than soft plucks of guitar. When combined though, these opposing elements transform Jackal into a distinctly outright collection of songs.

There are moments when the experimentation falls flat, like the confusing round of noise at the start of the otherwise affecting track “Floating”. But this is a strong effort that displays almost none of the suffocating perfectionism that some feared.

Lacking both the demonstrative lo-fi sprawl of its predecessor and the hermetic perfectionism that often marks long-gestating albums, Jackleg really does sound like the Baptist Generals made it first and foremost for themselves.